
Class 

Book _- 

GcpightN°_ 



CUKRIGiiT DEPOSIT. 



ORIGINAL NARRATIVES 
OF EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

REPRODUCED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE 
AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION 

General Editor, J. FRANKLIN JAMESON, Ph.D., LL.D. 

DIRECTOR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH IN THE 
CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON 



SPANISH EXPLORERS IN THE SOUTHERN 
UNITED STATES 

1528 — 1543 



»j5 «Ju 



ORIGINAL NARRATIVES 
OF EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



SPANISH EXPLORERS 

IN THE 

SOUTHERN UNITED STATES 

1528 — 1543 



THE NARRATIVE OF ALVAR NUNEZ 
CABECA DE VACA 

EDITED BY 

FREDERICK W. HODGE 

OF THE BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 

THE NARRATIVE OF THE EXPEDITION OF 

HERNANDO DE SOTO 

BY THE GENTLEMAN OF ELVAS 

EDITED BY 

THEODORE H. LEWIS 

HONORARY MEMBER OF THE MISSISSIPPI HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

THE NARRATIVE OF THE EXPEDITION OF 
CORONADO, BY PEDRO DE CASTANEDA 

EDITED BY 

FREDERICK W. HODGE 



WITH MAPS AND A FACSIMILE 
REPRODUCTION 



CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
NEWYORK- - - - - - 1907 



Si*" 



LIBRARY of CONGRF.": 
Two Copies Received 

MAR IS 1907 

Cooyrisht Entry 




COPYRIGHT, 1907, BY 
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 



Published, February, 1907 



NOTE 

Although, in the narrative of the Gentleman of Elvas, the 
translation by Buckingham Smith has been followed, some cor- 
rections have been made in the text, and pains have been taken 
to set right, in accordance with the Portuguese original at the 
Lenox Library, the native proper names, on whose interpretation 
in the Indian languages the identification of localities in many 
cases depends. If variations from page to page in the spelling 
of some such names are observed by the reader, they may be 
assumed to exist in the original. 

The three narratives printed in this book are but a small 
selection from among many scores ; for the narratives of Spanish 
explorers in the southern United States constitute an extensive 
literature. But if interest and historical importance are both 
taken into account, it is believed that these three hold an undis- 
puted preeminence among such "relations." 

J. F. J. 



CONTENTS 



THE NARRATIVE OF ALVAR NUNEZ CABEgA DE VAC A 

Edited by Frederick W. Hodge 

page 

The Narrative of Alvar Nunez Cabeca de Vaca ... 1 

Introduction 3 

Proem 12 

In which is told when the Armada sailed; and of the 

Officers and Persons who went in it . . . .14 
The Coming of the Governor to the Port of Xagua and 

with a Pilot 18 

Our Arrival in Florida 19 

Our Entrance into the Country 20 

The Governor leaves the Ships 24 

Our Arrival at Apalache 28 

The Character of the Country 29 

We go from Aute 33 

We leave the Bay of Horses 37 

The Assault from the Indians 40 

Of what befell Lope de Oviedo with the Indians . . 44 

The Indians bring us Food 45 

We hear of other Christians 48 

The Departure of four Christians . . . . .49 

What befell us among the People of Malhado . . 52 

The Christians leave the Island of Malhado . . 55 
The Coming of Indians with Andres Dorantes, Castillo, 

and Estevanico 59 

The Story Figueroa recounted from Esquivel . . .63 

Extract from the Letter of the Survivors ... 68 
Our Separation by the Indians . . . . .70 

Of our Escape . . . • 72 

Our Cure of some of the Afflicted .... 74 

The Coming of other Sick to us the next Day . . 76 

Of our Departure after having eaten the Dogs . . 82 

Customs of the Indians of that Country ... 83 

Vigilance of the Indians in War 85 

Of the Nations and Tongues 86 



\ x Chapter 


1. 


.Chapter 
f Chapter 


2. 


3. 


' Chapter 


4. 


Chapter 


5. 


Chapter 


6. 


Chapter 


7. 


Chapter 


8. 


Chapter 


9. 


Chapter 


10. 


Chapter 


11. 


Chapter 


12. 


Chapter 


13. 


Chapter 


14. 


Chapter 


15. 


Chapter 


16. 


Chapter 


17. 


Chapter 


18. 


Chapter 


19. 


Chapter 


20. 


Chapter 


21. 


Chapter 


22. 


Chapter 


23. 


Chapter 


24. 


Chapter 


25. 


Chapter 


26. 



CONTENTS 



Chapter 27. We moved away and were well received 

Chapter 28. Of another strange Custom 

Chapter 29. The Indians plunder each other 

Chapter 30. The Fashion of receiving us changes 

Chapter 31. Of our taking the Way to the Maize 

Chapter 32. The Indians give us the Hearts of Deer 

Chapter 33. We see Traces of Christians . 

Chapter 34. Of sending for the Christians 

Chapter 35. The Chief Alcalde receives us kindly 
arrive ...... 

Chapter 36. Of building Churches in that Land 

Chapter 37. Of what occurred when I wished to return 

Chapter 38. Of what became of the Others who went to Indias 



the 



Night we 



PAGE 

88 

91 

94 

99 

105 

108 

112 

113 

116 
119 
121 
123 



THE NARRATIVE OF THE EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO 
DE SOTO, BY THE GENTLEMAN OF ELVAS 

Edited by Theodore H. Lewis 

The Narrative of the Expedition of Hernando de Soto, by 

the Gentleman of Ei/vas 127 

Introduction 129 

Epigram of Silveira 133 

Prefatory Note by the Printer 134 

Chapter 1. Who Soto was, and how he came to get the Govern- 
ment of Florida 135 

Chapter 2. How Cabeca de Vaca arrived at Court, and gave Account 
of the Country of Florida ; and of the Persons who 
assembled at Seville to accompany Don Hernando de 
Soto 136 

Chapter 3. How the Portuguese went to Seville, and thence to 
Sanlucar ; and how the Captains were appointed over 
the Ships, and the People distributed among them . 138 

Chapter 4. How the Adelantado with his People left Spain, going 
to the Canary Islands, and afterward arrived in the 
Antillas 139 

Chapter 5. Of the Inhabitants there are in the City of Santiago 
and other Towns of the Island, the Character of the 
Soil, and of the Fruit 140 

Chapter 6. How the Governor sent Dona Ysabel with the Ships 
from Santiago to Havana, while he with some of the 
Men went thither by land 142 

Chapter 7. How we left Havana and came to Florida, and what 

other Matters took place 145 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Chapter 8. Of some Inroads that were made, and how a Christian 
was found who had been a long time in the posses- 
sion of a Cacique 148 

Chapter 9. How the Christian came to the Land of Florida, who 
he was, and of what passed at his Interview with the 
Governor 149 

Chapter 10. How the Governor, having sent the Ships to Cuba, 
marched Inland, leaving one hundred Men at the 
Port 153 

Chapter 11. How the Governor arrived at Caliquen, and thence, 
taking the Cacique with him, came to Napetaca, 
where the Indians, attempting to rescue him, had 
many of their Number killed and captured . . 156 

Chapter 12. How the Governor arrived at Palache, and was informed 

that there was much Gold inland .... 160 

Chapter 13. How the Governor went from Apalache in quest of 

Yupaha, and what befell him 164 

Chapter 14. How the Governor left the Province of Patofa, march- 
ing into a Desert Country, where he, with his People, 
became exposed to great Peril, and underwent severe 
Privation 169 

Chapter 15. How the Governor went from Cutifachiqui in quest of 

Coca, and what occurred to him on the Journey . 175 

Chapter 16. How the Governor left Chiaha, and, having run a 
Hazard of falling by the Hands of the Indians at 
Acoste, escaped by his Address: what occurred to 
him on the Route, and how he came to Coca . 181 

Chapter 17. Of how the Governor went from Coca to Tascaluca . 185 

Chapter 18. How the Indians rose upon the Governor, and what 

followed upon that Rising 190 

Chapter 19. How the Governor set his Men in order of Battle, and 

entered the town of Mauilla . ... . . 192 

Chapter 20. How the Governor set out from Mauilla to go to Chi- 

caca, and what befell him 194 

Chapter 21. How the Indians returned to attack the Christians, and 
how the Governor went to Alimamu, and they tarried 
to give him Battle in the Way 199 

Chapter 22. How the Governor went from Quizquiz, and thence to 

the River Grande 201 

Chapter 23. How the Governor went from Aquixo to Casqui, and 
thence to Pacaha ; and how this Country differs from 
the other 205 

Chapter 24. How the Cacique of Pacaha came in Peace, and he of 
Casqui, having absented himself, returned to excuse 
his Conduct; and how the Governor made Friend- 
ship between the Chiefs 209 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Chapter 25. How the Governor went from Pacaha to Aquiguate and 

to Coligoa, and came to Cayas 213 

Chapter 26. How the Governor went to visit the Province of Tulla, 

and what happened to him 217 

Chapter 27. How the Governor went from Tulla to Autiarnque, 

where he passed the Winter 221 

Chapter 28. How the Governor went from Autiamque to Nilco, and 

thence to Guachoya 224 

Chapter 29. The Message sent to Quigaltam, and the Answer brought 

back to the Governor, and what occurred the while . 228 

Chapter 30. The Death of the Adelantado, Don Hernando de Soto, 
and how Luys Moscoso de Alvarado was chosen Gov- 
ernor 232 

Chapter 31. How the Governor Luys de Moscoso left Guachoya and 

went to Chaguete, and thence to Aguacay . . 235 

Chapter 32. How the Governor went from Aguacay to Naguatex, 

and what happened to him 238 

Chapter 33. How the Cacique of Naguatex came to visit the Gov- 
ernor, and how the Governor went thence, and 
arrived at Nondacao 240 

Chapter 34. How the Governor marched from Nondacao to Soacatino 
and Guasco, passing through a Wilderness, whence, 
for want of a Guide and Interpreter, he retired to 
Nilco 243 

Chapter 35. How the Christians returned to Nilco, and thence went 
to Minoya, where they prepared to build Vessels in 
which to leave Florida 246 

Chapter 36. How Seven Brigantines were built, and the Christians 

took their Departure from Aminoya .... 250 

Chapter 37. How the Christians, on their Voyage, were attacked in 
the River, by the Indians of Quigualtam, and what 
happened 254 

Chapter 38. How the Christians were Pursued by the Indians . 257 

Chapter 39. How the Christians came to the Sea, what occurred 

then, and what befell them on the Voyage . . 259 

Chapter 40. How the Brigantines lost Sight of each other in a 

Storm, and afterwards came together at a Kay . 262 

Chapter 41. How the Christians arrived at the River Panico . . 264 

Chapter 42. How the Christians came to Panico, and of their Recep- 
tion by the Inhabitants 266 

Chapter 43. The Favor the People found in the Viceroy and Resi- 
dents of Mexico 268 

Chapter 44. Which sets forth some of the Diversities and Peculiari- 
ties of Florida ; and the Fruit, Birds, and Beasts of 
the Country 270 



CONTENTS 



XI 



THE NARRATIVE OF THE EXPEDITION OF CORONADO, 
BY PEDRO DE CASTANEDA 

Edited by Frederick W. Hodge 

PAGE 

The Narrative of the Expedition of Coronado, by Pedro de 

Castaneda 273 

Introduction . ' 275 

Preface 281 

FIRST PART 

Chapter 1. Which treats of the Way we first came to know about 
the Seven Cities, and of how Nufio de Guzman made 
an Expedition to discover them 285 

Chapter 2. Of how Francisco Vazquez Coronado came to be Gov- 
ernor, and the second Account which Cabeza de Vaca 
gave 287 

Chapter 3. Of how they killed the Negro Estevan at Cibola, and 

Friar Marcos returned in Flight .... 289 

Chapter 4. Of how the noble Don Antonio de Mendoza made an 

Expedition to discover Cibola 290 

Chapter 5. Concerning the Captains who went to Cibola . . 292 

Chapter 6. Of how all the Companies collected in Compostela and 

set off on the Journey in good Order . . . 293 

Chapter 7. Of how the Army reached Chiametla, and the Killing 
of the Army-Master, and the other things that hap- 
pened up to the Arrival at Culiacan .... 295 

Chapter 8. Of how the Army entered the Town of Culiacan and 
the Reception it received, and other things which 
happened before the Departure .... 297 

Chapter 9. Of how the Army started from Culiacan and the Arrival 
of the General at Cibola, and of the Army at Sefiora 
and of other things that happened .... 298 

Chapter 10. Of how the Army started from the Town of Sefiora, 
leaving it inhabited, and how it reached Cibola, and 
of what happened to Captain Melchior Diaz on his 
Expedition in Search of the Ships and how he dis- 
covered the Tison (Firebrand) River . . . 302 

Chapter 11. Of how Don Pedro de Tovar discovered Tusayan or 
Tutahaco and Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas saw 
the Firebrand River, and the other things that had 
happened 306 

Chapter 12. Of how people came from Cicuye to Cibola to see the 
Christians, and how Hernando de Alvarado went to 
see the Cows 310 



CONTENTS 



Chapter 13. Of how the General went toward Tutahaco with a few 
Men and left the Army with Don Tristan, who took 
it to Tiguex . 313 

Chapter 14. Of how the Army went from Cibola to Tiguex and 
what happened to them on the way, on account of 
the Snow * 315 

Chapter 15. Of why Tiguex revolted, and how they were punished, 

without being to Blame for it 317 

Chapter 16. Of how they besieged Tiguex and took it and of what 

happened during the Siege 320 

Chapter 17. Of how Messengers reached the Army from the Valley 
of Sefiora, and how Captain Melchior Diaz died on 
the Expedition to the Firebrand River . . . 324 

Chapter 18. Of how the General managed to leave the Country in 
Peace so as to go in Search of Quivira, where the 
Turk said there was the most Wealth . . . 327 

Chapter 19. Of how they started in Search of Quivira and of what 

happened on the Way 329 

Chapter 20. Of how great Stones fell in the Camp, and how they 
discovered another Ravine, where the Army was 
divided into two Parts 333 

Chapter 21. Of how the Army returned to Tiguex and the General 

reached Quivira 335 

Chapter 22. Of how the General returned from Quivira and of other 

Expeditions toward the North 339 



SECOND PART 

Which treats of the High Villages and Provinces and of 
their Habits and Customs, as collected by Pedro de 
Castaneda, Native of the City of Najara 

Chapter 1. Of the Province of Culiacan and of its Habits and 

Customs ■ . . 344 

Chapter 2. Of the Province of Petlatlan and all the Inhabited 

Country as far as Chichilticalli 346 

Chapter 3. Of Chichilticalli and the Desert, of Cibola, its Customs 

and Habits, and of other things 349 

Chapter 4. Of how they live at Tiguex, and of the Province of 

Tiguex and its Neighborhood 352 

Chapter 5. Of Cicuye and the Villages in its Neighborhood, and of 

how some People came to conquer this Country . . 355 

Chapter 6. Which gives the Number of Villages which were seen in 
the Country of the Terraced Houses, and their Popu- 
lation 358 



CONTENTS xiii 



PAGE 



Chapter 7. Which treats of the Plains that were crossed, of the 

Cows, and of the People who inhabit them . . . 361 
Chapter 8. Of Quivira, of where it is and some Information about it 364 



THIRD PART 

Which describes what happened to Francisco Vazquez 
coronado during the wlnter, and how he gave up the 
Expedition and returned to New Spain 

Chapter 1. Of how Don Pedro de Tovar came from Senora with 
some Men, and Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas started 
back to New Spain 366 

Chapter 2. Of the General's Fall, and of how the Return to New 

Spain was ordered 368 

Chapter 3. Of the Rebellion at Suya and the Reasons the Settlers 

gave for it 370 

Chapter 4. Of how Friar Juan de Padilla and Friar Luis remained 
in the Country and the Army prepared to return to 
Mexico 372 

Chapter 5. Of how the Army left the Settlements and marched to 

Culiacan, and of what happened on the Way . . 375 

Chapter 6. Of how the General started from Culiacan to give the 
Viceroy an Account of the Army with which he had 
been intrusted 377 

Chapter 7. Of the Adventures of Captain Juan Gallego while he 
was bringing Reinforcements through the Revolted 
Country 379 

Chapter 8. Which describes some remarkable things that were seen 

on the Plains, with a Description of the Bulls . . 381 

Chapter 9. Which treats of the Direction which the Army took, and 
of how another more direct Way might be found, if 
anyone was to return to that Country .... 384 



MAPS AND FACSIMILE REPRODUCTION 

Facsimile of the Title- Page of Cabeca de Vaca's " Rela- 
cion." From a copy of the first edition (Zamora, 1542) in the 
New York Public Library (Lenox Building) . . . Frontispiece 

PAGE 

A Contemporaneous Map of the Area of De Soto's Wan- 
derings. Apparently made by one of his followers. From the 
Archives of the Indies at Seville. First published in and now 
reproduced from Harrisse's Discovery of North America . . . 132 

Map of Coronado's Expedition. Specially drawn for this volume 

under the supervision of Frederick W. Hodge .... 280 



THE NARRATIVE OF ALVAR NUNEZ 
CABEZA DE VACA 



INTRODUCTION 

In some respects the journey of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de 
Vaca and his three companions overland from coast to coast 
during the eight years from 1528 to 1536 is the most remark- 
able in the record of American exploration, and as a narra- 
tive of suffering and privation the relation here presented 
perhaps has no equal in the annals of the northern continent. 

The author of the narrative was a native of Jerez de la 
Frontera, in the province of Cadiz, in southern Spain, but the 
date of his birth is not known. His father was Francisco de 
Vera, son of Pedro de Vera, conqueror of the Grand Canary in 
1483 ; his mother, Teresa Cabeza de Vaca, who also was born 
in Jerez. Why Alvar Nunez assumed the matronymic is not 
known, unless it was with a sense of pride that he desired to 
perpetuate the name that had been bestowed by the King of 
Navarre on his maternal ancestor, a shepherd named Martin 
Alhaja, for guiding the army through a pass that he marked 
with the skull of a cow (cabeza de vaca, literally " cow's 
head"), thus leading the Spanish army to success in the 
battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, in July, 1212, which led up 
to the final conquest of the Moors in Spain. 

Having returned to Spain after many years of service in 
the New World for the Crown, Pamfilo de Narvaez petitioned 
for a grant ; and in consequence the right to conquer and colo- 
nize the country between the Rio de las Palmas, in eastern 
Mexico, and Florida was accorded him. The expedition, con- 
sisting of six hundred colonists and soldiers, set sail in five 
vessels from San Lucar de Barrameda, June 17, 1527, and after 
various vicissitudes, including the wreck of two ships and the 



4 SPANISH EXPLORERS 

loss of sixty men in a hurricane on the southern coast of Cuba, 
was finally driven northward by storm, and landed, in April, 
1528, at St. Clements Point, near the entrance to Tampa Bay, 
on the west coast of Florida. Despite the protest of Cabeza 
de Vaca, who had been appointed treasurer of Rio de las Pal- 
mas by the King, Narvaez ordered his ships to skirt the coast 
in an endeavor to find Panuco, while the expedition, now re- 
duced to three hundred men by desertions in Santo Domingo, 
death in the Cuban storm, and the return of those in charge 
of the ships, started inland in a generally northern course. 
The fleet searched for the expedition for a year and then sailed 
to Mexico. 

Among the members of the force, in addition to Alvar 
Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, were Andres Dorantes de Carranga, 
son of Pablo, a native of Bejar del Castanar, in Estremadura, 
who had received a commission as captain of infantry on the 
recommendation of Don Alvaro de Zuniga, Duke of Bejar; 
Captain Alonzo del Castillo Maldonado, of Salamanca, the 
son of Doctor Castillo and Aldonza Maldonado ; and Estevan, 
or Estevanico, a blackamoor of Asemmur, or Azamor, on the 
west coast of Morocco, the slave of Dorantes. With the ex- 
ception of those who returned with the ships, these four men 
were the only ones of the entire expedition who ever again 
entered a civilized community. 

Pursuing a generally northerly course, harassed by Ind- 
ians, and beset with hunger, illness, and treachery in their 
ranks, Narvaez 's party finally reached the head of Appa- 
lachee Bay, in the country of the Indians after whom this arm 
of the Gulf of Mexico takes its name. Looking now to the 
sea as his only means of escape, Narvaez the incompetent, 
with neither the proper materials nor the mechanics, set about 
to build boats to conduct his men out of their trap — craft 
that were expected to weather such tropical storms as they 
had already so poorly buffeted with their stouter ships. Every 



INTKODUCTION 5 

object of metal that the expedition afforded, even to stirrups 
and spurs, was requisitioned for the manufacture of nails and 
necessary tools ; a rude forge was constructed, with bellows of 
wood and deer-skins; the native palm supplied tow and cov- 
ering; the horses were killed and their hides used for water- 
bottles, while their flesh served the Spaniards for food as the 
work went on ; even the shirts from the very backs of the men 
were fashioned into sails. Picturing the character of the five 
boats, laden almost to the gunwales with nearly fifty men 
each, besides such provisions as could be stowed away, and 
the untold hardship from thirst after the decay of the horse- 
hide canteens, the chief wonder is that the motley fleet sur- 
vived long enough to reach Pensacola Bay. As it passed the 
mouth of the Mississippi, the current was so swift that fresh 
water was dipped from the gulf, and the wind so strong that 
the boats were carried beyond sight of land for three days, 
and for a time lost sight of each other. For four days more, 
two of the boats, including that in which was Cabeza de Vaca, 
drifted within view of each other; but another storm arose, 
again they were lost to sight, and one by one the occupants 
succumbed to exhaustion and cast themselves into the bot- 
tom of the boat, until Cabeza de Vaca alone was left to steer 
the flimsy craft in its unknown course. Night came on and 
the author of our narrative lay down to rest. The next morn- 
ing, November 6, 1528, the boat was cast ashore on a long 
narrow island, inhabited by savages, on the Texas coast. 

On this " Island of Misfortune" Cabeza de Vaca's party 
was soon joined by that of one of the other boats, including 
Dorantes, so that altogether the island harbored about eighty 
Spaniards. Four men later attempted to reach Panuco, but 
all perished but one. During the following winter disease 
raged among the little colony, reducing it to fifteen. Then 
the Spaniards became separated, Dorantes and his slave 
Est e van, now both the slaves of the Indians, were taken to 



6 SPANISH EXPLORERS 

the mainland, whither Cabeza de Vaca, weary of root-digging 
on the island shore, also escaped, becoming a trader among 
the Indians, journeying far inland and along the coast from 
tribe to tribe, for forty or fifty leagues. Every year during 
the five years that he plied his trade as a dealer in shells, sea- 
beads, medicine-beans, skins, ochre, and the like, he returned 
to Malhado, where Lope de Oviedo, and Alvarez, a sick com- 
panion, still remained. Finally the latter died, and Cabeza de 
Vaca and Oviedo again sought the main in the hope of reach- 
ing Christian people. Journeying southward along the coast, 
they crossed the Brazos and other rivers, and finally reached 
San Antonio Bay. Here Oviedo, owing to ill-treatment by 
the Indians, deserted Cabeza de Vaca, who shortly after also 
stole away from the savages and joined Dorantes, Castillo 
Maldonado, and the Moor (the sole survivors of the party of 
twelve who had left Malhado years before), whose Indian 
masters had come down the river, evidently the San Antonio, 
to gather walnuts. 

Once more together, the Christians planned to escape six 
months hence, when all the Indians from the surrounding 
country gathered on the southern Texas plains to eat prickly 
pears. But again were they doomed to disappointment, for 
although the savages assembled in the tuna fields, a quarrel 
arose among them (there was "a woman in the case"), which 
caused the Spaniards to be separated for another year. Their 
escape was finally accomplished in the manner they had 
planned ; but their departure for the Christian land was not 
at once effected, by reason of the inhospitable character of 
the country, which compelled them to sojourn among other 
Indians until the beginning of another prickly-pear season. 

While among the Avavares, with whom the Spaniards lived 
for eight months, they resumed the treatment of the sick, a prac- 
tice that had first been forced on them, by the natives oi- Malhado 
Island, under threat of starvation. With such success did the 



INTRODUCTION 7 

Spaniards, and especially Cabeza de Vaca, meet, that their 
reputation as healers was sounded far and wide among the 
tribes, thousands of the natives following them from place 
to place and showering gifts upon them. 

There are few Spanish narratives that are more unsatis- 
factory to deal with by reason of the lack of directions, dis- 
tances, and other details, than that of Cabeza de Vaca ; con- 
sequently there are scarcely two students of the route who 
agree. His line of travel through Texas was twice crossed by 
later explorers, — in 1541 by the army of Francisco Vazquez 
Coronado, on the eastern edge of the Stake Plains, and again 
in 1582 by Antonio de Espejo, on the Rio Grande below the 
present El Paso. These data, with the clews afforded by the 
narrative itself, point strongly to a course from the tuna fields, 
about thirty leagues inland from San Antonio Bay, to the Rio 
Colorado and perhaps to the Rio Llano, westward across the 
lower Pecos to the Rio Grande above the junction of the Con- 
chos, thence in an approximately straight line across Chihua- 
hua and Sonora to the Rio Sonora, where we find Cabeza de 
Vaca's Village of the Hearts, which Coronado also visited in 
1540, at or in the vicinity of the present Ures. Soon after 
he reached this point traces of the first Christians were seen, 
and shortly after the Spaniards themselves, in the form of a 
military body of slave-hunters. 

As to the character of our chronicler, he seems to have 
been an honest, modest, and humane man, who underestimated 
rather than exaggerated the many strange things that came 
under his notice, if we except the account of his marvellous 
healings, even to the revival of the dead. The expedition of 
Narvaez was in itself a disastrous and dismal failure, reaching 
"an end alike forlorn and fatal"; but viewed from the 
standpoint of present-day civilization, the commander deserved 
his fate. On the other hand, while one might well hesitate to 
say that the accomplishment of Cabeza de Vaca and his three 



8 SPANISH EXPLOEEES 

companions compensated their untold sufferings, the world 
eventually became the wiser in more ways than one. The 
northern continent had been penetrated from shore to shore ; 
the waters of the Mississippi and the bison of the plains were 
now first seen by white men ; and some knowledge of the sav- 
age tribes had been gleaned for the benefit of those who should 
come after. There is no blatant announcement of great min- 
eral wealth — a mountain with scoria of iron, some small bags 
of mica, a quantity of galena, with which the Indians painted 
their faces, a little turquoise, a few emeralds, and a small cop- 
per bell were all. Yet the effect of the remarkable overland 
journey was to inspire the expedition of Coronado in 1540; 
and it is not improbable that De Soto, who endeavored to 
enlist the services of Cabeza de Vaca, may likewise have been 
stimulated to action. 

After the three Spaniards returned to Mexico they united 
in a report to the Audiencia of Espafiola (Santo Domingo), 
which is printed in Oviedo's Historia General y Natural de las 
Indias (tomo III., lib. xxxv., ed. 1853). In April, 1537, 
they embarked for Spain, but the ship in which Dorantes 
set sail proved to be unsea worthy and returned to Vera Cruz. 
Invited to the capital by the Viceroy Mendoza, Dorantes was 
tendered a commission to explore the northern country, but 
this project was never carried out. 

Cabeza de Vaca, in reward for his services, was appointed 
governor, captain-general, and adelantado of the provinces of 
Rio de la Plata. Sailing from Cadiz in November, 1540, he 
reached Brazil in March of the following year. Here he re- 
mained seven months, when he sent his vessels ahead to Bue- 
nos Ayres and started overland to Asuncion, which he reached 
in March, 1542, after a remarkable experience in the tropical 
forests. But the province seems to have needed a man of 
sterner stuff than Alvar Nunez, for he soon became the sub- 
ject of animosity and intrigue, which finally resulted in open 



INTRODUCTION 9 

rebellion, and his arrest in April, 1543. He was kept under 
close guard for about two years, when he was sent to Spain, 
and in 1551 was sentenced to banishment in Africa for eight 
years — a judgment that does not seem to have been carried 
out, for after serving probably a year or so in mild captivity 
at Seville, he was acquitted. He died in 1557. 

Of the subsequent career of Castillo little is known. He 
returned to New Spain, became a citizen of the City of Mexico, 
married a widow, and was granted half the rents of the Indian 
town of Tehuacan. 

Dorantes, as has been stated, for some reason did not carry 
out the plan of exploring the north, perhaps because of the 
projected expedition of Coronado, the way for which was led 
by Fray Marcos de Niza in 1539 with the negro Estevan as a 
guide. Dorantes served Mendoza in the conquest of Jalisco, 
and married Dona Maria de la Torre, a widow, by whom he 
had a large family. One of his sons, Balthasar, sometime 
king's treasurer of Vera Cruz, was born about the middle of 
the century, and on the death of his father inherited an en- 
comienda that produced an income of five thousand pesos a 
year. Another son, Gaspar, inherited the encomienda of the 
pueblos of Ocava; and another, Melchior, "an encomienda of 
Indians and of very good rents." 

Of Estevan there is somewhat more definite information. 
Well on the road toward the north in 1539, he was sent 
ahead by Fray Marcos to report the character of the country 
and its people, and with rattle in hand and accompanied by 
many Indians of the present Gila River region, entered Hawi- 
kuh, the first of the Seven Cities of Cibola. Here Estevan 
and most of his Indian followers were put to death by the 
Zunis ; those who escaped fled to Fray Marcos, whose life was 
threatened but who saved himself by regaling the natives 
with the contents of his pack. 

There was another survivor of the inland expedition of 



10 SPANISH EXPLORERS 

Narvaez — Juan Ortiz by name. This Spaniard, who had been 
enticed ashore by the Indians of Florida, led practically the 
life of a slave, like his countrymen on the Texas main, until 
1539, when he was rescued by De Soto, but he died before the 
expedition returned to civilization. 

The Relation of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca was first 
printed at Zamora in 1542, and with slight changes was re- 
printed, with the first edition of the Comentarios on the Rio 
de la Plata, at Valladolid, in 1555. The editio princeps was 
translated into Italian by Ramusio, in the third volume of his 
Navigationi et Viaggi (Venice, 1556), and this was paraphrased 
into English by Samuel Purchas in volume IV. of Purchas 
His Pilgrimes (London, 1613, pt. iv., lib. vin., cap. 1). The 
Naufragios (or Relation) and Comentarios were reprinted at 
Madrid in 1736, preceded by the Exdmen Apologetico of Antonio 
Ardoino, who seemed to feel it his duty to reply to an Austrian 
monk named Caspar Plautus, who, in 1621, under the name 
Philoponus, published a treatise in which he maintained that 
laymen like Cabeza de Vaca should not be permitted to per- 
form miracles. This edition of the narration of Cabeza de Vaca 
is included in volume I. of Barcia's Historiadores Primitivos 
de las Indias Occidentales, published at Madrid in 1749. The 
Naufragios of Alvar Nunez, from the edition of 1555, appears in 
volume I. of Vedia's Historiadores Primitivos de Indias (Madrid, 
ed. 1852). The letter to the Audiencia of Espanola, "edited" 
by Oviedo, has already been alluded to. A " Capitulacion 
que se tomo con Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca," dated Madrid, 
18 Marzo, 1540, is found in the Coleccion de Documentos 
Ineditos del Archivo de Indias (tomo XXIIL, pp. 8-33, 1875). 
A Relation by Cabeza de Vaca, briefly narrating the story of 
the expedition until the arrival of its survivors in Espfritu 
Santo Bay, with his instructions as treasurer, is printed in 
the Coleccion de Documentos de Indias, XIV. 265-279 (Madrid, 
1870). The most recent Spanish edition of the more famous 



INTRODUCTION 11 

Relation reprinted in the following pages forms a part of vol- 
ume V. of the Coleccion de Libros y Documentos referentes a 
la Historia de America (Madrid, 1906), which also contains 
the Comentarios. 

The single French translation was published as volume VII. 
of Henri Ternaux-Compans's Voyages (Paris, 1837), from the 
edition of 1555, while the Commentaires form volume VI. 

In 1851 a translation of the edition of 1555 into English, 
by (Thomas) Buckingham Smith, under the title The Narrative 
of Alvar Nunez Cabeca de Vaca, was published privately at 
Washington by George W. Riggs; and shortly after Mr. 
Smith's death, in 1871, another edition, with many additions, 
was published in New York under the editorial supervision of 
John Gilmary Shea and at the expense of Henry C. Murphy. 
It is this edition of the Narrative that is here reprinted. A 
paraphrase of the 1851 edition of Smith's translation appears 
in Henry Kingsley's Tales of Old Travels (London, 1869). 
The first fourteen chapters of W. W. H. Davis's Spanish Con- 
quest of New Mexico (Doylestown, Pa., 1869) are also a para- 
phrase of the same work. Chapters xxx.-xxxvi. of the 
1871 edition of Smith, somewhat abridged, were printed in 
an Old South Leaflet (Gen. Ser., No. 39, Boston, 1893). A 
" Relation of what Befel the Persons who Escaped from the 
Disasters that Attended the Armament of Captain Pamphilo 
de Narvaez on the Shores and in the countries of the North," 
translated and condensed from the letter published by Oviedo, 
is printed in The Historical Magazine (vol. XII., pp. 141, 204, 
267, 347; September-December, 1867). The most recent 
English edition of the Cabeza de Vaca Relation, translated 
from the very rare imprint of 1542 by Mrs. Fanny Bandelier, 
and edited, with an introduction, by her husband Ad. F. 
Bandelier, was published in New York, in 1905, under the 
title, The Journey of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, as one of 
the volumes of the " Trail Makers" series. 

F. W. Hodge. 



THE NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 

Relation that Alvar Nunez Cabeca de Vaca gave of what befell 
the armament in the Indies whither Pdnfilo de Narvdez 
went for Governor from the year 1527 to the year 1536 
[1537] when with three comrades he returned and came 
to Sevilla. 1 

PROEM 

Sacred Caesarian Catholic Majesty: 

Among the many who have held sway, I think no prince 
can be found whose service has been attended with the ardor 
and emulation shown for that of your Highness 2 at this time. 
The inducement is evident and powerful : men do not pursue 
together the same career without motive, and strangers are 
observed to strive with those who are equally impelled by 
religion and loyalty. 

Although ambition and love of action are common to all, 
as to the advantages that each may gain, there are great in- 
equalities of fortune, the result not of conduct, but only acci- 
dent, nor caused by the fault of any one, but coming in the 
providence of God and solely by His will. Hence to one arises 
deeds more signal than he thought to achieve ; to another the 
opposite in every way occurs, so that he can show no higher 
proof of purpose than his effort, and at times even this is so 
concealed that it cannot of itself appear. 

As for me, I can say in undertaking the march I made on the 
main by the royal authority, I firmly trusted that my conduct 

1 This heading is taken from the title-page of the edition of 1542. The 
edition of 1555, generally followed in this book, has a title-page so phrased 
as to cover both the North American and the South American narratives of 
the author. The return really took place in 1537. 

2 The Emperor Charles V. 

12 



NAKRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 13 

and services would be as evident and distinguished as were those 
of my ancestors * and that I should not have to speak in order 
to be reckoned among those who for diligence and fidelity 
in affairs your Majesty honors. Yet, as neither my counsel 
nor my constancy availed to gain aught for which we set out, 
agreeably to your interests, for our sins, no one of the many ar- 
maments that have gone into those parts has been permitted 
to find itself in straits great like ours, or come to an end alike 
forlorn and fatal. To me, one only duty remains, to present 
a relation of what was seen and heard in the ten years 2 I 
wandered lost and in privation through many and remote lands. 
Not merely a statement of positions and distances, animals 
and vegetation, but of the diverse customs of the many and 
very barbarous people with whom I talked and dwelt, as well 
as all other matters I could hear of and discern, that in some 
way I may avail your Highness. My hope of going out from 
among those nations was always small, still my care and dili- 
gence were none the less to keep in particular remembrance 
everything, that if at any time God our Lord should will to 
bring me where I now am, it might testify to my exertion in 
the royal behalf. 

As the narrative is in my opinion of no trivial value to those 
who in your name go to subdue those countries and bring them 
to a knowledge of the true faith and true Lord, and under the 
imperial dominion, I have written this with much exactness; 
and although in it may be read things very novel and for some 
persons difficult to believe, nevertheless they may without 
hesitation credit me as strictly faithful. Better than to ex- 
aggerate, I have lessened in all things, and it is sufficient to say 
the relation is offered to your Majesty for truth. I beg it 
may be received in the name of homage, since it is the most that 
one could bring who returned thence naked. 

1 He doubtless refers particularly to the services of his grandfather, 
Pedro de Vera, conqueror of the Canaries, to whom he refers at the close of 
this work. See the Introduction. 

2 He arrived in Florida with the Narvaez expedition in April, 1528, 
and reached New Spain overland in April, 1536 — eight years later. 



14 SPANISH EXPLOEEES [1527 



Chapter 1 

In which is told when the Armada sailed, and of the officers and 
persons who went in it. 

On the seventeenth day 1 of June, in the year fifteen hun- 
dred and twenty-seven, the Governor Panphilo de Narvaez 
left the port of San Lucar de Barrameda, 2 authorized and com- 
manded by your Majesty to conquer and govern the provinces 
of the main, extending from the River Palmas 3 to the cape 
of Florida. The fleet he took was five ships, in which went six 
hundred men, a few more or less; the officers (for we shall 
have to speak of them), were these, with their rank: Cabega 
de Vaca, treasurer and high-sheriff ; Alonso Enrriquez, comp- 
troller; Alonso de Solis, distributor to your Majesty and 
assessor ; Juan Xuarez, 4 a friar of Saint Francis, commissary, 
and four more friars of the same order. 

We arrived at the island of Santo Domingo, where we tar- 
ried near forty-five days, engaged in procuring for ourselves 
some necessary material, particularly horses. Here we lost 
from our fleet more than one hundred and forty men, who 
wished to remain, seduced by the partidos, 5 and advantages 
held out to them by the people of that country. 

1 The Spanish edition of 1542 has the date June 27. 

2 At the mouth of the Guadalquivir, in the province of Cadiz, Spain ; 
noted as the point of debarkation of Fernao Magalhaes, or Magellan, Sep- 
tember 20, 1519. 

3 Probably the Rio de Santander, which enters the Gulf of Mexico one 
hundred miles north of Tampico. The name was later applied to the prov- 
ince that joined the province of Panuco on the north. The latter was, in 
general terms, the region drained by the streams that empty into the Gulf 
about Tampico. 

4 The edition of 1542 has "Juan Gutierrez." 

5 A term often used to designate one of the districts or territories into 
which a Spanish province was divided for purposes of administration, 
and having a head pueblo or village ; but here employed to signify the 
favorable proposals which the colonists made to the deserters from the 
fleet. 



1527] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 15 

We sailed from the island and arrived at Santiago, 1 a port 
of Cuba, where, during some days that we remained, the Gov- 
ernor supplied himself further with men, also with arms and 
horses. It happened there that a gentleman, Vasco Porcallo 2 
of Trinidad, which is also on the island, 3 offered to give the 
Governor some provisions which he had in the town, a hun- 
dred leagues from the port of Santiago. Accordingly the Gov- 
ernor set out with all the fleet for Trinidad ; but coming to a 
port half way, called Cabo de Santa Cruz, 4 he thought it well 
.to wait there, and send a vessel to bring the stores. To this 
end he ordered that a Captain Panto ja 5 should go for them 
with his ship, and for greater security, that I should accom- 
pany him with another. The Governor remained with four 
ships, having bought one at the island of Santo Domingo. 

We having arrived with the two vessels at the port of Trini- 
dad, Captain Pantoja went with Vasco Porcalle (sic) to the 
town, a league off, to receive the provisions, while I remained 
at sea with the pilots, who said we ought to go thence with the 
greatest despatch possible, for it was a very bad port in which 
many vessels were lost. As what there occurred to us was 
very remarkable, it appears to me not foreign to the purpose 
with which I write this, to relate it here. 

The next morning began to give signs of bad weather; 
rain commenced falling, and the sea ran so high, that, although 
I gave the men permission to go on shore, many of them re- 
turned to the ship to avoid exposure to the wet and cold, and 
because the town was a league away. In this time a canoe 
came off, bringing me a letter from a resident of the place, 
asking me to come for the needed provisions that were there ; 

1 In southeastern Cuba, the Santiago de Cuba that was surrendered to 
the American forces in the summer of 1898. 

2 Vasco Porcallo de Figueroa afterward became De Soto's lieutenant- 
general in Florida, but returned to Cuba early in the history of the expedition. 

3 On the southern coast, longitude 80°. 

4 Now Cabo Cruz, longitude 77° 40'. 

5 One Juan Pantoja, captain of crossbowmen and Lord of Ixtlahuaca, 
accompanied Narvaez on his first expedition to Mexico. If the same as the 
present Pantoja, which seems likely, he was killed by Sotomayor in a quar- 
rel. See ch. 17. 



16 SPANISH EXPLOKEKS [1527 

from which request I excused myself, saying that I could not 
leave the ships. At noon the canoe returned with another 
letter, in which I was solicited again with much urging, and 
a horse was brought for me to ride. I gave the same answer as 
before, that I could not leave the ships; but the pilots and 
the people entreated me to go, so that I might hasten the pro- 
visions as fast as possible, and we might join the fleet where it 
lay, for they had great fear lest remaining long in this port, 
the ships should be lost. For these reasons, I determined to 
go to the town ; but first I left orders with the pilots, that if 
the south wind, which often wrecks vessels there, came on to 
blow, and they should find themselves in much danger, to put 
the ships on shore at some place where the men and horses 
could be saved. I wished to take some of the men with me 
for company; but they said the weather was too rainy and 
cold, and the town too far off; that to-morrow, which was 
Sunday, they would come, with God's help, and hear mass. 

An hour after I left, the sea began to rise very high, and 
the north wind was so violent that neither the boats dared 
come to land, nor could the vessels be let drive on shore, be- 
cause of the head wind, so that the people remained severely 
laboring against the adverse weather, and under a heavy fall 
of water all that day and Sunday until dark. At this time, 
the rain and the tempest had increased to such a degree, 
there was no less agitation in the town than on the sea; for 
all the houses and churches fell, and it was necessary in order 
to move upright, that we should go seven or eight holding on 
to each other that the wind might not blow us away; and 
walking in the groves, we had no less fear of the trees than of 
the houses, as they too were falling and might kill us under 
them. In this tempest and danger we wandered all night, 
without finding place or spot where we could remain a half- 
hour in safety. During the time, particularly from midnight 
forward, we heard much tumult and great clamor of voices, 
the sound of timbrels, flutes, and tambourines, as well as other 
instruments, which lasted until the morning, when the tem- 
pest ceased. Nothing so terrible as this storm had been seen 



1527] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VAC A 17 

in those parts before. I drew up an authenticated account 
of it, and sent the testimony to your Majesty. 

On Monday morning we went down to the harbor, but 
did not find the ships. The buoys belonging to them were 
floating on the water; whence we knew the ships were lost, 
and we walked along the shore to see if any thing could be 
found of them. As nothing was discovered, we struck into 
the woods, and, having travelled about a quarter of a league 
in water, we found the little boat of a ship lodged upon some 
trees. Ten leagues thence, along the coast, two bodies were 
found, belonging to my ship, and some lids of boxes ; but the 
persons were so disfigured by beating against the rocks that 
they could not be recognized. A cloak too was seen, also a 
coverlet rent in pieces, and nothing more. Sixty persons 
were lost in the ships, and twenty horses. Those who had 
gone on shore the day of our arrival, who may have been as 
many as thirty, were all the survivors of both ships. During 
some days we were struggling with much hardship and hunger ; 
for the provisions and subsistence were destroyed, and some 
herds. The country was left in a condition piteous to behold; 
the trees prostrate, the woods parched, there being neither 
grass nor leaf. 

Thus we lived until the fifth of November, when the Gov- 
ernor arrived with four ships, which had lived through the 
great storm, having run into a place of safety in good time. 
The people who came in them, as well as those on shore, were 
so intimidated by what had passed, that they feared to go on 
board in the winter, and they besought the Governor to spend 
it there. Seeing their desire and that it was also the wish of 
the townspeople, he staid through the season. He gave the 
ships and people into my charge, that I might go with them 
to pass the winter at the port of Xagua, 1 twelve leagues 
thence, where I remained until the twentieth day of February. 

1 The present Jagua, at the entrance to the bay of Cienfuegos. 



18 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1528 



Chapter 2 

The coming of the Governor to the Port of Xagua and 

with a pilot. 

At this time, the Governor arrived with a brigantine 
bought in Trinidad, and brought with him a pilot named 
Miruelo, who was employed because he said he knew the posi- 
tion of the River Palmas, and had been there, and was a thor- 
ough pilot for all the coast of the North. The Governor had 
also purchased and left on the shore of Havana another vessel, 
of which Alvaro de la Cerda remained in charge, with forty- 
infantry and twelve cavalry. 

The second day after arrival the Governor set sail with 
four hundred men and eighty horses, in four ships and a brig- 
antine. The pilot being again on board, put the vessels among 
the shoals they call Canarreo, 1 and on the day following we 
struck: thus we were situated fifteen days, the keels of our 
vessels frequently touching bottom. At the end of this time, 
a tempest from the south threw so much water upon the 
shoals that we could get off, although not without danger. 
We left this place and arrived at Guaniguanico, where an- 
other storm overtook us, in which we were at one time near 
being lost. At Cape Corrientes 2 we had still another, which 
detained us three days. These places being passed, we dou- 
bled Cape Sant Anton, 3 and sailed with head winds until we 
were within twelve leagues of Havana. Standing in the next 
day to enter the harbor, a wind came from the south which 
drove us from the land towards the coast of Florida. We 
came in sight on Tuesday, the twelfth day of April, and sailed 
along the coast. On Holy Thursday we anchored near the 

1 Evidently one of the numerous keys between Xagua Bank and the Isle 
of Pines. 

2 Southwestern Cuba. 

3 The westernmost point of the island. 



1528] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE YACA 19 

shore in the mouth of a bay 1 at the head of which we saw 
some houses or habitations of Indians. 2 



Chapter 3 
Our arrival in Florida. 

On the same day 3 the comptroller, Alonzo Enrriquez, 
landed on an island in the bay. He called to the Indians, who 
came and remained with him some time ; and in barter gave 
him fish and several pieces of venison. The day following, 
which was Good Friday, 4 the governor debarked with as many 
of the people as the boats he brought could contain. When 
we came to the buhios, 5 or houses that we had seen, we found 
them vacant and abandoned, the inhabitants having fled at 
night in their canoes. One of the buhios was very large; 
it could hold more than three hundred persons. The others 
were smaller. We found a tinklet of gold among some fish 
nets. 

The next day 6 the Governor raised ensigns for your Maj- 
esty, and took possession of the country in your royal name. 7 
He made known his authority, and was obeyed as governor, 

1 The place of landing is identified as having been about St. Clement's 
Point, on the peninsula west of Tampa Bay, on the western coast of Florida. 
See Woodbury Lowery, Spanish Settlements, 1518-1561 (New York, 1901), 
p. 177, and App. J. 

2 These were Indians belonging to the Timuquanan, or Timucuan family, 
now entirely extinct. The Seminoles were comparatively recent intruders 
in the peninsula, except in the extreme northern part. 

3 April 14, 1528. 4 April 15, 1528. 

5 An Arawak term for house, referring specifically to a dwelling with an 
open shed attached. The Spaniards became acquainted with the word in 
Santo Domingo. For descriptions of these habitations see Fewkes, " The 
Aborigines of Porto Rico and Neighboring Islands," Twenty-fifth Annual 
Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1906. 

6 April 16, 1528. 

7 For the interesting if farcical formula used in taking possession of a 
country in the name of Spain, see Buckingham Smith, Relation of Alvar 
Nufiez Cabega de Vaca (ed. 1871), App. in., 215-217, and Lowery, op. cit., 
pp. 178-180. 



20 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1528 

as your Majesty had commanded. At the same time we laid 
our commissions before him, and he acknowledged them accord- 
ing to their tenor. Then he ordered that the rest of the people 
and the horses should land. Of the beasts there were only 
forty-two; by reason of the great storms and the length of 
time passed at sea, the rest were dead. These few remaining 
were so lean and fatigued that for the time we could have little 
service from them. The following day the Indians of the town 
came and spoke to us ; but as we had no interpreter we could 
not understand what they meant. They made many signs 
and menaces, and appeared to say we must go away from the 
country. With this they left us and went off, offering no in- 
terruption. 

Chapter 4 
Our entrance into the country. 

The day following, the Governor resolved to make an incur- 
sion to explore the land, and see what it might contain. With 
him went the commissary, the assessor, and myself, with forty 
men, among them six cavalry, of which we could make little 
use. We took our way towards the north, 1 until the hour of 
vespers, when we arrived at a very large bay that appeared to 
stretch far inland. 2 We remained there that night, and the 
next day we returned to the place where were our ships and 
people. The Governor ordered that the brigantine should 
sail along the coast of Florida and search for the harbor that 
Miruelo, the pilot, said he knew (though as yet he had failed 
to find it, and could not tell in what place we were, or where 
was the port), and that if it were not found, she should steer 
for Havana and seek the ship of which Alvaro de la Cerda 
was in command, 3 and, taking provisions, together, they should 
come to look for us. 

After the brigantine left, the same party, with some persons 
more, returned to enter the land. We kept along the shores 

1 Really northeast. 

2 The western arm of Tampa Bay, known as Old Tampa Bay. 

3 With forty men and a dozen horses. 



1528] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 21 

of the bay we had found, and, having gone four leagues, we 
captured four Indians. We showed them maize, to see 
if they had knowledge of it, for up to that time we had 
seen no indication of any. They said they could take us where 
there was some; so they brought us to their town near by, 
at the head of the bay, and showed us a little corn not yet fit 
for gathering. 

There we saw many cases, such as are used to contain the 
merchandise of Castile, in each of them a dead man, and the 
bodies were covered with painted deer-skins. This appeared 
to the commissary to be a kind of idolatry, and he burned the 
cases with the bodies. We also found pieces of linen and of 
woollen cloth, and bunches of feathers which appeared like 
those of New Spain. 1 There were likewise traces of gold. 
Having by signs asked the Indians whence these things came, 
they motioned to us that very far from there, was a province 
called Apalachen, 2 where was much gold, and so the same 

1 In the letter addressed by the survivors to the Audiencia of Santo 
Domingo (Oviedo, Historia General y Natural de las Indias, III., cap. i. 583, 
Madrid, 1853), it is stated that when the natives were asked whence came 
these intrusive articles, which included also some pieces of shoes, canvas, 
broadcloth, and iron, they replied by signs that they had taken them from 
a vessel that had been wrecked in the bay. Compare also cap. vn. 615. It 
has been suggested that possibly the objects may have come from the 
vessel which Lucas Vazquez de Ayllon lost in 1526, but as this wreck 
occurred at the mouth of Cape Fear River, on the southern coast of North 
Carolina, it does not seem likely that they could have been derived from 
this source. That natives of the West Indies had intercourse by canoe 
with Florida, and that an Arawakan colony was early established on the 
southwest coast of the peninsula, is now well established. 

2 The Apalachee were one of the Muskhogean tribes that occupied north- 
western Florida from the vicinity of Pensacola eastward to Ocilla River, 
their chief seats being in the vicinity of Tallahassee and St. Marks. In 1655 
they numbered six or eight thousand, but about the beginning of the eigh- 
teenth century they were warred against by the Creeks, instigated by the Eng- 
lish of Carolina, and in 1703 and 1704 expeditions by English troops, reinforced 
by Creek warriors, resulted in the capture and enslavement of about fourteen 
hundred Apalachee and in practically exterminating the remainder. The 
town of Apalachicola, on the Savannah River, was inhabited by Apalachee 
refugees colonized later by the Carolina government, but these were finally 
merged with the Creeks. Appalachee Bay and the Appalachian Mountains 
derive their names from this tribe. 



22 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1528 

abundance in Palachen 1 of everything that we at all cared 
for. 

Taking these Indians for guides, we departed, and travelling 
ten or twelve leagues 2 we came to a town of fifteen houses. 
Here a large piece of ground was cultivated in maize then ripe, 
and we likewise found some already dry. After staying there 
two days, we returned to where the comptroller tarried with 
the men and ships, and related to him and the pilots what we 
had seen, and the information the natives had given. 

The next day, the first of May, the Governor called aside 
the commissary, the comptroller, the assessor, myself, a sailor 
named Bartolome Fernandez, and a notary, Hieronymo 
Alaniz. 3 Being together he said that he desired to penetrate 
the interior, and that the ships ought to go along the coast 
until they should come to the port which the pilots believed 
was very near on the way to the River Palmas. He asked us 
for our views. 

1 said it appeared to me that under no circumstances ought 
we to leave the vessels until they were in a secure and peopled 
harbor ; that he should observe the pilots were not confident, 
and did not agree in any particular, neither did they know 
where we were; that, more than this, the horses were in no 
condition to serve us in such exigencies as might occur. Above 
all, that we were going without being able to communicate 
with the Indians by use of speech and without an interpreter, 
and we could but poorly understand ourselves with them, or 
learn what we desired to know of the land ; that we were about 
entering a country of which we had no account, and had no 
knowledge of its character, of what there was in it, or by what 
people inhabited, neither did we know in what part of it we 
were; and beside all this, we had not food to sustain us in 

1 " Apalachen," as above, in the edition of 1542 (Bandelier translation). 

2 The Spanish league varied greatly, but in these early narratives the 
judicial league, equivalent to 2.634 English miles, is usually meant. Dis- 
tances, however, while sometimes paced, were generally loose guesses, as 
is often shown by the great disparity in the figures given by two or more 
chroniclers of the same journey. 

3 " Jeronimo de Albaniz " in the edition of 1542 (Bandelier translation). 



1528] NABHATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 23 

wandering we knew not whither ; that with regard to the stores 
in the ships, rations could not be given to each man for such 
a journey, more than a pound of biscuit and another of bacon; 
that my opinion was, we should embark and seek a harbor and 
a soil better than this to occupy, since what we had seen of it 
was desert and poor, such as had never before been discovered 
in those parts. 

To the commissary 1 every thing appeared otherwise. He 
thought we ought not to embark; but that, always keeping 
the coast, we should go in search of the harbor, which the 
pilots stated was only ten or fifteen leagues from there, on the 
way to Panuco ; and that it was not possible, marching ever 
by the shore, we should fail to come upon it, because they said 
it stretched up into the land a dozen leagues ; that whichever 
might first find it should wait for the other; that to embark 
would be to brave the Almighty after so many adversities 
encountered since leaving Spain, so many storms, and so great 
losses of men and ships sustained before reaching there ; that 
for these reasons we should march along the coast until we 
reached the harbor, and those in the ships should take a like 
direction until they arrived at the same place. 

This plan seemed the best to adopt, to the rest who were 
present, except the notary, who said that when the ships 
should be abandoned they ought to be in a known, safe haven, 
a place with inhabitants ; that this done the Governor might 
advance inland and do what might seem to him proper. 

The Governor followed his own judgment and the counsel 
of others. Seeing his determination, I required him in behalf 
of your Majesty, not to quit the ships before putting them in 
port and making them secure; and accordingly I asked a 
certificate of this under the hand of the notary. The Governor 
responded that he did but abide by the judgment of the com- 
missary, and of the majority of the officers, and that I had no 
right to make these requirements of him. He then asked the 
notary to give him a certificate, that inasmuch as there was 
no subsistence in that country for the maintenance of a colony, 

1 Fray Juan Xuarez. 



24 SPANISH EXPLOEEPS [1528 

nor haven for the ships, he broke up the settlement he had 
placed there, taking its inhabitants in quest of a port and land 
that should be better. He then ordered the people who were 
to go with him to be mustered, that they might be victualled 
with what was needed for the journey. After they had been 
provided for, he said to me, in the hearing of those present, that 
since I so much discouraged and feared entering the land, I 
should sail in charge of the ships and people in them, and form 
a settlement, should I arrive at the port before him ; but from 
this proposal I excused myself. 

After we had separated, the same evening, having said 
that it did not appear to him that he could entrust the com- 
mand to any one else, he sent to me to say that he begged I 
would take it ; but finding, notwithstanding he so greatly im- 
portuned me, that I still refused, he asked me the cause of 
my reluctance. I answered that I rejected the responsibility, 
as I felt certain and knew that he was never more to find the 
ships, nor the ships him, which might be foreseen in the 
slender outfit we had for entering the country ; that I desired 
rather to expose myself to the danger which he and the others 
adventured, and to pass with them what he and they might go 
through, than to take charge of the ships and give occasion for 
it to be said I had opposed the invasion and remained behind 
from timidity, and thus my courage be called in question. I 
chose rather to risk my life than put my honor in such position. 
Seeing that what he said to me availed nothing, he begged 
many persons to reason with me on the subject and entreat 
me. I answered them in the same way I had him; so he 
appointed for his lieutenant of the ships an alcalde he had 
brought with him, whose name was Caravallo. 

Chapter 5 

The Governor leaves the ships 

On Saturday, 1 first of May, the date of this occurrence, the 
Governor ordered to each man going with him, two pounds of 

1 Buckingham Smith has "Sunday," translating Sdbado ("Sabbath") 
literally; the Christian Sabbath is the Spanish Domingo. 



1528] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 25 

biscuit and half a pound of bacon; and thus victualled we 
took up our march into the country. The whole number of 
men was three hundred : 1 among them went the commissary, 
Friar Juan Xuarez, and another friar, Juan de Palos, three 
clergymen and the officers. We of the mounted men consisted 
of forty. We travelled on the allowance we had received fifteen 
days, without finding any other thing to eat than palmitos, 2 
which are like those of Andalusia. In all that time we saw 
not an Indian, and found neither village nor house. Finally 
we came to a river, 3 which we passed with great difficulty, by 
swimming and on rafts. It detained us a day to cross because 
of the very strong current. Arrived on the other side, there 
appeared as many as two hundred natives, more or less. The 
Governor met them, and conversing by signs, they so insulted 
us with their gestures, that we were forced to break with them. 4 
We seized upon five or six, and they took us to their houses half 
a league off. Near by we found a large quantity of maize in 
a fit state to be gathered. We gave infinite thanks to our Lord 
for having succored us in this great extremity, for we were yet 
young in trials, and besides the weariness in which we came, 
we were exhausted from hunger. 

On the third day after our arrival, the comptroller, the as- 
sessor, the commissary and I met, and together besought the 
Governor to send to look for the sea, that if possible we might 
find a port, as the Indians stated there was one not a very 
great way off. He said that we should cease to speak of the 
sea, for it was remote ; but as I chiefly importuned him, he told 
me to go and look for it, and seek a harbor, to take forty men 
and to travel on foot. So the next day 5 I left with Captain 

1 The Letter (Oviedo, 584) says two hundred and sixty men afoot and 
forty horsemen. References to the Letter to the Audiencia of Santo Do- 
mingo will henceforth be cited simply as Oviedo, in whose work it appears 
(see the Introduction). 

2 Buckingham Smith says: "This is the dwarf fan-palm, not the cab- 
bage-palm, to which we often inadvertently apply the diminutive termina- 
tion ito, mispelled etto." Smith lived in Florida for many years. 

3 Evidently the Withlacoochee, which enters the Gulf at latitude 29°. 

4 The Spaniards were still among the Timucuan tribes. 
6 May 18, 1528. 



26 SPANISH EXPLOEEES [1528 

Alonzo del Castello * and forty men of his company. We 
marched until noon, when we arrived at some sea sands that 
appeared to lie a good ways inland. Along this sand we walked 
for a league and a half, 2 with the water half way up the leg, 
treading on oysters, which cut our feet badly and made us 
much trouble, until we reached the river 3 we had before crossed; 
emptying into this bay. As we could not cross it by reason of 
our slim outfit for such purpose, we returned to camp and re- 
ported what we had discovered. To find out if there was a 
port and examine the outlet well, it was necessary to repass 
the river at the place where we had first gone over ; so the next 
day the Governor ordered a captain, Valenguela by name, with 
sixty men 4 and six cavalry, to cross, and following the river 
down to the sea, ascertain if there was a harbor. He returned 
after an absence of two days, and said he had explored the bay, 
that it was not deeper any where than to the knee, and that 
he found no harbor. He had seen five or six canoes of 
Indians passing from one shore to the other, wearing many 
plumes. 

With this information, we left the next day, going ever in 
quest of Apalache, the country of which the Indians told us, 
having for our guides those we had taken. We travelled without 
seeing any natives who would venture to await our coming up 
with them until the seventeenth day of June, when a chief ap- 
proached, borne on the back of another Indian, and covered 
with a painted deer-skin. A great many people attended him, 
some walking in advance, playing on flutes of reed. 5 In this 
manner he came to where the Governor stood, and spent an 
hour with him. By signs we gave him to understand that we 
were going to Apalachen, and it appeared to us by those he 
made that he was an enemy to the people of Apalachen, and 
would go to assist us against them. We gave him beads and 
hawk-bells, with other articles of barter; and he having pre- 

1 Castillo. 2 Two leagues, according to Oviedo, op. cit., 585. 

3 The Withlacoochee. 4 Forty men according to Oviedo, 585. 
5 When Hernando de Soto passed through this country eleven years later 
he also was met by Indians playing flutes. 



1528] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 27 

sented the Governor with the skin he wore, went back, when 
we followed in the road he took. 

That night we came to a wide and deep river with a very 
rapid current. 1 As we would not venture to cross on rafts, 
we made a canoe for the purpose, and spent a day in getting 
over. Had the Indians desired to oppose us, they could well 
have disputed our passage; for even with their help we had 
great difficulty in making it. One of the mounted men, Juan 
Velazquez by name, a native of Cuellar, impatient of detention, 
entered the river, when the violence of the current casting him 
from his horse, he grasped the reins of the bridle, and both were 
drowned. The people of that chief, whose name was Dulchan- 
chellin, found the body of the beast ; and having told us about 
where in the stream below we should find the corpse, it was 
sought for. This death caused us much regret, for until now 
not a man had been lost. The horse afforded supper to many 
that night. 

Leaving that spot, the next day we arrived at the town of 
the chief, where he sent us maize. During the night one of our 
men was shot at in a place where we got water, but it pleased 
God that he should not be hit. The next day we departed, 
not one of the natives making his appearance, as all had fled. 
While going on our way a number came in sight, prepared for 
battle ; and though we called to them, they would not return 
nor await our arrival, but retired following us on the road. 
The Governor left some cavalry in ambush, which sallying as 
the natives were about to pass, seized three or four, who thence- 
forth served as guides. They conducted us through a country 
very difficult to travel and wonderful to look upon. In it are 
vast forests, the trees being astonishingly high. So many 
were fallen on the ground as to obstruct our way in such a 
manner that we could not advance without much going about 
and a considerable increase of toil. Many of the standing trees 
were riven from top to bottom by bolts of lightning which fall 
in that country of frequent storms and tempests. 

We labored on through these impediments until the day after 
x The Suwannee. 



28 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1528 

Saint John's, 1 when we came in view of Apalachen, without the 
inhabitants being aware of our approach. We gave many 
thanks to God, at seeing ourselves so near, believing true what 
had been told us of the land, and that there would be an end to 
our great hardships, caused as much by the length and bad- 
ness of the way as by our excessive hunger ; for although we 
sometimes found maize, we oftener travelled seven and eight 
leagues without seeing any ; and besides this and the great fa- 
tigue, many had galled shoulders from carrying armor on the 
back; and even more than these we endured. Yet, having 
come to the place desired, and where we had been informed were 
much food and gold, it appeared to us that we had already 
recovered in part from our sufferings and fatigue. 



Chapter 6 
Our arrival at Apalache. 

When we came in view of Apalachen, the Governor ordered 
that I should take nine cavalry with fifty infantry and enter 
the town. Accordingly the assessor 2 and I assailed it ; and 
having got in, we found only women and boys there, the men 
being absent; however these returned to its support, after a 
little time, while we were walking about, and began discharging 
arrows at us. They killed the horse of the assessor, and at last 
taking to flight, they left us. 

We found a large quantity of maize fit for plucking, and 
much dry that was housed ; also many deer-skins, and among 
them some mantelets of thread, small and poor, with which the 
women partially cover their persons. There were numerous 
mortars for cracking maize. The town consisted of forty small 
houses, made low, and set up in sheltered places because of the 
frequent storms. The material was thatch. They were sur- 

1 Saint John the Baptist's Day, June 24. They had been travelling 
through the jungle for four or five days. 

2 The assessor, or inspector, it will be recalled, was Alonzo de Solis. 



1528] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 29 

rounded by very dense woods, large groves and many bodies 
of fresh water, in which so many and so large trees are fallen, 
that they form obstructions rendering travel difficult an'd dan- 
gerous. 

Chapter 7 
The character of the country. 

The country where we came on shore to this town and re- 
gion of Apalachen is for the most part level, the ground of 
sand and stiff earth. Throughout are immense trees and open 
woods, in which are walnut, laurel, and another tree called 
liquid-amber, 1 cedars, savins, evergreen oaks, pines, red-oaks, 
and palmitos like those of Spain. There are many lakes, great 
and small, over every part of it ; some troublesome of fording, 
on account of depth and the great number of trees lying 
throughout them. Their beds are sand. The lakes in the 
country of Apalachen are much larger than those we found 
before coming there. 2 

In this province are many maize fields; and the houses 
are scattered as are those of the Gelves. There are deer of 
three kinds, rabbits, hares, bears, lions, and other wild beasts. 
Among them we saw an animal with a pocket on its belly, 3 
in which it carries its young until they know how to seek food, 
and if it happen that they should be out feeding and any one 
come near, the mother will not run until she has gathered them 
in together. The country is very cold. 4 It has fine pastures 
for herds. Birds are of various kinds. Geese in great num- 
bers. Ducks, mallards, royal-ducks, fly-catchers, night-herons 

x The sweet-gum, copalm, or alligator tree (Liquidambar styracif.ua). 

2 Seemingly the lake country in the northern part of Leon and Jefferson 
counties, Florida. " Apalachen' ' town was perhaps on Miccosukee Lake. 

3 The opossum. This is probably the first allusion to this animal. The 
name is derived from the Algonquian language of Virginia, having first been 
recorded by Captain John Smith. 

4 As it was now late in June, this is not explicable, unless the season 
was an unusual one. 



30 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1528 

and partridges abound. We saw many falcons, gerfalcons, 
sparrow-hawks, merlins, and numerous other fowl. 1 

Two hours after our arrival at Apalachen, the Indians 
who had fled from there came in peace to us, asking for their 
women and children, whom we released ; but the detention of 
a cacique by the jGta^ernor produced great excitement, in con- 
sequence of whicH they returned for battle early the next day, 
and attacked us with such promptness and alacrity that they 
succeeded in setting fire to the houses in which we were. As 
we sallied they fled to the lakes near by, because of which and 
the large maize fields we could do them no injury, save in the 
single instance of one Indian, whom we killed. The day fol- 
lowing, others came against us from a town on the opposite 
side of the lake, and attacked us as the first had done, escaping 
in the same way, except one who was also slain. 

We were in the town twenty-five days, in which time we 
made three incursions, and found the country very thinly peo- 
pled and difficult to travel for the bad passages, the woods and 
lakes. We inquired of the cacique we kept and the natives 
we brought with us, who were the neighbors and enemies of 
these Indians, as to the nature of the country, the character 
and condition of the inhabitants, of the food and all other mat- 
ters concerning it. Each answered apart from the rest, that 
the largest town in all that region was Apalachen; the peo- 
ple beyond were less numerous and poorer, the land little occu- 
pied, and the inhabitants much scattered ; that thenceforward 
Were great lakes, dense forests, immense deserts and solitudes. 
We then asked touching the region towards the south, as to 
the towns and subsistence in it. They said that in keeping 
such a direction, journeying nine days, there was a town 
called Aute, 2 the inhabitants whereof had much maize, beans, 
and pumpkins, and being near the sea they had fish, and that 
those people were their friends. 

1 Buckingham Smith thinks it strange that the turkey and the alligator 
are not particularly mentioned among the fauna of the region. 

2 Most authorities agree that this place was at or near the site of St. 
Marks, south-southeast of Tallahassee, although the distance seems too 
short for nine days' travel, as will be seen. 



1528] NABRATIVE OP CABEZA DE VACA 31 

In view of the poverty of the land, the unfavorable accounts 
of the population and of everything else we heard, the Indians 
making continual war upon us, wounding our people and horses 
at the places where they went to drink, shooting from the lakes 
with such safety to themselves that we could not retaliate, 
killing a lord of Tescuco, named Don Pedro, 1 whom the com- 
missary brought with him, we determined to leave that place 
and go in quest of the sea, and the town of Aute of which we 
were told. 

At the termination of the twenty-five days 2 after our arrival 
we departed, 3 and on the first day got through those lakes 
and passages without seeing any one, and on the second day 
we came to a lake difficult of crossing, the water reaching to the 
paps, and in it were numerous logs. On reaching the middle 
of it we were attacked by many Indians from behind trees, 
who thus covered themselves that we might not get sight of 
them, and others were on the fallen timbers. They drove their 
arrows with such effect that they wounded many men and 
horses, and before we got through the lake they took our guide. 
They now followed, endeavoring to contest the passage ; but 
our coming out afforded no relief, nor gave us any better posi- 
tion; for when we wished to fight them they retired imme- 
diately into the lake, whence they continued to wound our 
men and beasts. The Governor, seeing this, commanded the 
cavalry to dismount and charge the Indians on foot. Accord- 
ingly the comptroller 4 alighting with the rest, attacked them, 
when they all turned and ran into the lake at hand, and thus 
the passage was gained. 

Some of our men were wounded in this conflict, for whom 
the good armor they wore did not avail. There were those this 
day who swore that they had seen two red oaks, each the thick- 
ness of the lower part of the leg, pierced through from side to 

1 See Buckingham Smith, Relation of Alvar Nunez Cabeca de Vaca, 1871, 
p. 42, note 7, regarding this Aztec prince of the blood. 

2 "Twenty-six days." Oviedo, 586. The edition of 1542 (Bandelier 
trans., p. 30) says : " And so we left, arriving there five days after. The first 
day we travelled across lagunes and trails without seeing a single Indian." 

3 July 19-20, 1528. « Alonzo Enrriquez. 



32 SPANISH EXPLOEERS [1528 

side by arrows; and this is not so much to be wondered at, 
considering the power and skill with which the Indians are able 
to project them. I myself saw an arrow that had entered the 
butt of an elm to the depth of a span. 

The Indians we had so far seen in Florida are all archers. 
They go naked, are large of body, and appear at a distance like 
giants. They are of admirable proportions, very spare and of 
great activity and strength. The bows they use are as thick 
as the arm, of eleven or twelve palms in length, which they 
will discharge at two hundred paces with so great precision 
that they miss nothing. 

Having got through this passage, at the end of a league we 
arrived at another of the same character, but worse, as it was 
longer, being half a league in extent. This we crossed freely, 
without interruption from the Indians, who, as they had spent 
on the former occasion their store of arrows, had nought with 
which they dared venture to engage us. Going through a simi- 
lar passage the next day, I discovered the trail of persons ahead, 
of which I gave notice to the Governor, who was in the rear- 
guard, so that though the Indians came upon us, as we were 
prepared they did no harm. After emerging upon the plain 
they followed us, and we went back on them in two directions. 
Two we killed, and they wounded me and two or three others. 
Coming to woods we could do them no more injury, nor make 
them further trouble. 

In this manner we travelled eight days. After that oc- 
currence we were not again beset until within a league of the 
place to which I have said we were going. There, while on our 
way, the Indians came about us without our suspicion, and 
fell upon the rear-guard. A hidalgo, named Avellaneda, hear- 
ing the cries of his serving boy, went back to give assistance, 
when he was struck by an arrow near the edge of his cuirass ; 
and so severe was the wound, the shaft having passed almost 
entirely through his neck, that he presently died. The corpse 
was carried to Aute, where we arrived at the end of nine days' 1 
travel from Apalache. We found all the inhabitants gone and 
1 "Eight or nine days." Oviedo, 587. 



1528] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VAC A 33 

the houses burned. Maize, beans, and pumpkins were in great 
plenty, all beginning to be fit for gathering. Having rested 
two days, the Governor begged me to go and look for the sea, 
as the Indians said it was near ; and we had before discovered 
it, while on the way, from a very large stream, to which we 
had given the name of River of the Magdalena. 1 

Accordingly, I set out the next day after, in company with 
the commissary, Captain Castillo, Andres Dorantes, seven 
more on horseback, and fifty on foot. We travelled until the 
hour of vespers, when we arrived at a road or entrance of the 
sea. Oysters were abundant, over which the men rejoiced, 
and we gave thanks to God that he had brought us there. The 
following morning 2 1 sent twenty men to explore the coast and 
ascertain its direction. They returned the night after, re- 
porting that those creeks and bays were large, and lay so far 
inland as made it difficult to examine them agreeably to our 
desires, and that the sea shore was very distant. 

These tidings obtained, seeing our slender means, and con- 
dition for exploring the coast, I went back to the Governor. 
On our arrival we found him and many others sick. The Ind- 
ians had assaulted them the night before, and because of the 
malady that had come upon them, they had been pushed to 
extremity. One of the horses had been killed. I gave a 
report of what I had done, and of the embarrassing nature of 
the country. We remained there that day. 

Chapter 8 

We go from Ante. 

The next morning 3 we left Aute, and travelled all day be- 
fore coming to the place I had visited. The journey was ex- 
tremely arduous. There were not horses enough to carry the 
sick, who went on increasing in numbers day by day, and we 

1 St. Marks River, which flows into St. Marks Bay, at the head of which 
Aute was situated. 

2 August 1, 1528. 3 August 3, 1528. 



34 SPANISH EXPLOBERS [1528 

knew of no cure. It was piteous and painful to witness our 
perplexity and distress. We saw on our arrival how small 
were the means for advancing farther. There was not any- 
where to go ; and if there had been, the people were unable to 
move forward, the greater part being ill, and those were few 
who could be on duty. I cease here to relate more of this, 
because any one may suppose what would occur in a country 
so remote and malign, so destitute of all resource, whereby 
either to live in it or go out of it ; but most certain assistance 
is in God, our Lord, on whom we never failed to place reliance. 
One thing occurred, more afflicting to us than all the rest, 
which was, that of the persons mounted, the greater part com- 
menced secretly to plot, hoping to secure a better fate for them- 
selves by abandoning the Governor and the sick, who were in 
a state of weakness and prostration. But, as among them 
were many hidalgos and persons of gentle condition, they 
would not permit this to go on, without informing the Governor 
and the officers of your Majesty; and as we showed them the 
deformity of their purpose, and placed before them the mo- 
ment when they should desert their captain, and those who 
were ill and feeble, and above all the disobedience to the orders 
of your Majesty, they determined to remain, and that whatever 
might happen to one should be the lot of all, without any 
forsaking the rest. 

After the accomplishment of this, the Governor called them 
all to him, and of each apart he asked advice as to what he 
should do to get out of a country so miserable, and seek that 
assistance elsewhere which could not here be found, a third 
part of the people being very sick, and the number increasing 
every hour; for we regarded it as certain that we should all 
become so, and could pass out of it only through death, which 
from its coming in such a place was to us all the more terrible. 
These, with many other embarrassments being considered, 
and entertaining many plans, we coincided in one great project 
extremely difficult to put in operation, and that was to build 
vessels in which we might go away. This appeared impossible 
to every one; we knew not how to construct, nor were there 



1528] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 35 

tools, nor iron, nor forge, nor tow, nor resin, nor rigging; 
finally, no one thing of so many that are necessary, nor any 
man who had a knowledge of their manufacture; and, above 
all, there was nothing to eat, while building, for those who 
should labor. Reflecting on all this, we agreed to think of 
the subject with more deliberation, and the conversation 
dropped from that day, each going his way, commending our 
course to God, our Lord, that he would direct it as should best 
serve Him. 

The next day it was His will that one of the company 
should come saying that he could make some pipes out of 
wood, which with deer-skins might be made into bellows; 
and, as we lived in a time when anything that had the sem- 
blance of relief appeared well, we told him to set himself to 
work. We assented to the making of nails, saws, axes, and 
other tools of which there was such need, from the stirrups, 
spurs, crossbows, and the other things of iron there were; 
and we laid out for support, while the work was going on, that 
we would make four entries into Aute, with all the horses and 
men that were able to go, and that on every third day a horse 
should be killed to be divided among those who labored in the 
work of the boats and the sick. The incursions were made 
with the people and horses that were available, and in them 
were brought back as many as four hundred fanegas * of maize ; 
but these were not got without quarrels and contentions with 
the Indians. We caused many palmitos to be collected for the 
woof or covering, twisting and preparing it for use in the place 
of tow for the boats. 

We commenced to build on the fourth, with the only car- 
penter in the company, and we proceeded with so great dili- 
gence that on the twentieth day of September five boats were 
finished, twenty-two cubits in length, each caulked with the 
fibre of the palmito. We pitched them with a certain resin, 
made from pine trees by a Greek, named Don Theodoro ; from 
the same husk of the palmito, and from the tails and manes of 
the horses we made ropes and rigging, from our shirts, sails, 
1 About six hundred and forty bushels. 



36 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1528 

and from the savins growing there we made the oars that 
appeared to us requisite. Such was the country into which 
our sins had cast us, that only by very great search could we 
find stone for ballast and anchors, since in it all we had not seen 
one. We flayed the horses, taking the skin from their legs 
entire, and tanning them to make bottles wherein to carry 
water. 

During this time some went gathering shell-fish in the coves 
and creeks of the sea, at which employment the Indians twice 
attacked them and killed ten men in sight of the camp, with- 
out our being able to afford succor. We found their corpses 
traversed from side to side with arrows ; and for all some had 
on good armor, it did not give adequate protection or security 
against the nice and powerful archery of which I have spoken. 
According to the declaration of our pilots under oath, from the 
entrance to which we had given the name Bahia de la Cruz * 
to this place, we had travelled two hundred and eighty leagues 2 
or thereabout. Over all that region we had not seen a single 
mountain, and had no information of any whatsoever. 

Before we embarked there died more than forty men of dis- 
ease and hunger, without enumerating those destroyed by the 
Indians. By the twenty-second of the month of September, 
the horses had been consumed, one only remaining; and on 
that day we embarked in the following order : In the boat of 
the Governor went forty-nine men ; in another, which he gave 
to the comptroller and the commissary, went as many others ; 
the third, he gave to Captain Alonzo del Castillo and Andre's 
Dorantes, with forty-eight men; and another he gave to two 
captains, Tellez and Penalosa, with forty-seven men. The 
last was given to the assessor and myself, with forty-nine men. 
After the provisions and clothes had been taken in, not over 
a span of the gunwales remained above water ; and more than 
this, the boats were so crowded that we could not move: 
so much can necessity do, which drove us to hazard our lives 

1 Tampa Bay. 

2 In reality they could not have travelled much more than as many miles 
in a straight line from Tampa Bay. 



1528] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 37 

in this manner, running into a turbulent sea, not a single one 
who went having a knowledge of navigation. 1 



Chapter 9 
We leave the Bay of Horses. 

The haven we left bears the name of Bahia de Caballos. 2 
We passed waist deep in water through sounds without seeing 
any sign of the coast, and at the close of the seventh day, we 
came to an island near the main. My boat went first, and 
from her we saw Indians approaching in five canoes, which they 
abandoned and left in our hands, finding that we were coming 
after them. The other boats passed ahead, and stopped at 
some houses on the island, where we found many dried mullet 
and roes, which were a great relief in our distress. After tak- 
ing these we went on, and two leagues thence, we discovered 
a strait the island makes with the land, 3 which we named 
Sant Miguel, for having passed through it on his day. 4 Coming 
out we went to the coast, where with the canoes I had taken, 
we somewhat improved the boats, making waist-boards and 
securing them, so that the sides rose two palms above the water. 
This done we returned to move along the coast in the direction 
of the River Palmas, 5 our hunger and thirst continually in- 
creasing ; for our scant subsistence was getting near the end, 
the water was out, and the bottles made from the legs of the 
horses having soon rotted, were useless. Sometimes we entered 
coves and creeks that lay far in, and found them all shallow 
and dangerous. Thus we journeyed along them thirty days, 

1 Consuls Garcilasso de la Vega, La Florida, 78, 1723, for the finding 
of the relics of Narvaez by De Soto's expedition in 1539, and see the De Soto 
narration of the Gentleman of Elvas, later in the present volume. 

2 "Bay of Horses" : St. Marks Bay of Appalachee Bay. 

3 The conditions are applicable to the mouth of St. Marks Bay, the two 
small islands, and the strait between them and the coast. 

4 St. Michael's Day, September 29, 1528. 

5 That is, in a southwesterly direction. 



38 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1528 

finding occasionally Indian fishermen, a poor and miserable 
lot. 

At the end of this time, while the want of water was great, 
going near the coast at night we heard the approach of a canoe, 
for which, so soon as it was in sight, we paused ; but it would 
not meet us, and, although we called, it would neither come 
nor wait for us. As the night was dark, we did not follow, 
and kept on our way. When the sun rose we saw a small 
island, and went to it to find water ; but our labor was vain, 
as it had none. Lying there at anchor, a heavy storm came 
on, that detained us six days, we not daring to go to sea ; and 
as it was now five days since we had drunk, our thirst was so 
excessive that it put us to the extremity of swallowing salt 
water, by which some of the men became so crazed that three 
or four suddenly died. I state this so briefly, because I do not 
believe there is any necessity for particularly relating the suffer- 
ings and toils amidst which we found ourselves; since, con- 
sidering the place where we were, and the little hope we had of 
relief, every one may conceive much of what must have passed. 

Although the storm had not ceased, as our thirst increased 
and the water killed us, we resolved to commend ourselves to 
God our Lord, and adventure the peril of the sea rather than 
await the end which thirst made certain. Accordingly we 
Went out by the way we had observed the canoe go the night we 
came. On this day we were ourselves many times overwhelmed 
by the waves, and in such jeopardy that there was not one 
who did not suppose his death inevitable. Thanks be to Him, 
that in the greatest dangers, He was wont to show us his favor ; 
for at sunset doubling a point made by the land, we found 
shelter with much calm. 1 

Many canoes came off with Indians who spoke with us and 
returned, not being disposed to await our arrival. They were 
of large stature and well formed : they had no bows and arrows. 
We followed them to their houses near by, at the edge of the 
water, and jumped on shore. Before their dwellings were many 
clay pitchers with water, and a large quantity of cooked fish, 
1 Pensacola Bay. The Indians were Choctaws or a closely related tribe. 



1528] NABRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 39 

which the chief of these territories offered to the Governor and 
then took him to his house. Their dwellings were made of 
mats, and so far as we observed, were not movable. On enter- 
ing the house the cacique gave us fish, and we gave him of the 
maize we brought, which the people ate in our presence. They 
asked for more and received it, and the Governor presented the 
cacique with many trinkets. While in the house with him, at 
the middle hour of night, the Indians fell suddenly upon us, 
and on those who were very sick, scattered along the shore. 1 
They also beset the house in which the Governor was, and 
with a stone struck him in the face. Those of our comrades 
present seized the cacique ; but his people being near liberated 
him, leaving in our hands a robe of, ^hct znaii ten. 

These skins are the best, I think, that can be found ; they 
have a fragrance that can be equalled by amber and musk 
alone, and even at a distance is strongly perceptible. We 
saw there other skins, but none comparable to these. 

Those of us around, finding the Governor wounded, put 
him into his boat ; and we caused others of our people to be- 
take themselves likewise to their boats, some fifty remaining 
to withstand the natives. They attacked us thrice that night, 
and with so great impetuosity, that on each occasion they 
made us retire more than a stone's cast. Not one among us 
escaped injury: I was wounded in the face. They had not 
many arrows, but had they been further provided, doubtless 
they would have done us much harm. In the last onset, the 
Captains Dorantes, Penalosa, and Tellez put themselves in 
ambuscade with fifteen men, and fell upon the rear in such 
manner that the Indians desisted and fled. 

The next morning 2 I broke up more than thirty canoes, 
which were serviceable for fuel in a north wind in which we were 
kept all day suffering severe cold, without daring to go to sea, 
because of the rough weather upon it. This having subsided, 
we again embarked, and navigated three days. 3 As we brought 
little water and the vessels were few, we were reduced to the 

." Oviedo, p. 589. 2 October 28, 1528. 

„ >> /"\,.:„J_ „ eon 



1 " Killing three men." Oviedo, p. 589. 
3 "Three or four days." Oviedo, p. 589. 



40 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1528 

last extremity. Following our course, we entered an estuary, 
and being there we saw Indians approaching in a canoe. We 
called to them and they came. The Governor, at whose boat 
they first arrived, asked for water, which they assented to give, 
asking for something in which they might bring it, when 
Dorotheo Theodoro, a Greek spoken of before, said that he 
wished to go with them. The Governor tried to dissuade him, 
and so did others, but were unable ; he was determined to go 
whatever might betide. Accordingly he went, taking with him 
a negro, the natives leaving two of their number as hostages. 
At night the Indians returned with the vessels empty and 
without the Christians ; and when those we held were spoken 
to by uho^x, the, tried +r » plunge into the sea. Being detained 
by the men, the Indians in w^ canoe thereupon fled, leaving us 
sorrowful and much dejected for our loss. 1 

Chapter 10 

The assault from the Indians. 

The morning having come, many natives arrived in canoes 
who asked us for the two that had remained in the boat. The 
Governor replied that he would give up the hostages when they 
should bring the Christians they had taken. With the Ind- 
ians had come five or six chiefs, 2 who appeared to us to be 
the most comely persons, and of more authority and condition 
than any we had hitherto seen, although not so large as some 
others of whom we have spoken. They wore the hair loose and 
very long, and were covered with robes of marten such as we 
had before taken. Some of the robes were made up after a 
strange fashion, with wrought ties of lion skin, making a brave 

1 Biedma's Narrative (Publications of the Hakluyt Society, IX. 1-83, 
1851) says of the De Soto expedition in 1539 : " Having set out for this village 
[Mavila, Mauvila, Mobile], we found a large river which we supposed to be 
that which falls into the bay of Chuse [Pensacola Bay] ; we learned that the 
vessels of Narvaez had arrived there in want of water, and that a Christian 
named Teodoro and an Indian had remained among these Indians : at the 
same time they showed us a dagger which had belonged to the Christian." 

2 "Three or four," according to the Letter (Oviedo, p. 589), which also 
gives the number of canoes as twenty. 



1528] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 41 

show. They entreated us to go with them, and said they 
would give us the Christians, water, and many other things. 
They continued to collect about us in canoes, attempting in 
them to take possession of the mouth of that entrance; in 
consequence, and because it was hazardous to stay near the 
land, we went to sea, where they remained by us until about 
mid-day. As they would not deliver our people, we would 
not give up theirs; so they began to hurl clubs at us and to 
throw stones with slings, making threats of shooting arrows, 
•although we had not seen among them all more than three or 
four bows. While thus engaged, the wind beginning to freshen, 
they left us and went back. 

We sailed that day until the middle of the afternoon, when 
my boat, which was the first, discovered a point made by the 
land, and against a cape opposite, passed a broad river. 1 I 
cast anchor near a little island forming the point, to await the 
arrival of the other boats. The Governor did not choose to 
come up, and entered a bay near by in which were a great many 
islets. We came together there, and took fresh water from 
the sea, the stream entering it in freshet. 2 To parch some of 
the maize we brought with us, since we had eaten it raw for 
two days, we went on an island; but finding no wood we 
agreed to go to the river beyond the point, one league off. 
By no effort could we get there, so violent was the current on 
the way, which drove us out, while we contended and strove to 
gain the land. The north wind, which came from the shore, 
began to blow so strongly that it forced us to sea without our 
being able to overcome it. We sounded half a league out, and 
found with thirty fathoms 3 we could not get bottom ; but we 
were unable to satisfy ourselves that the current was not the 
cause of failure. Toiling in this manner to fetch the land, 
We navigated three days, and at the end of this time, a little 

1 According to the Letter they travelled two days more before reaching 
this point of land. 

2 The Mississippi, the waters of which were now seen by white men 
fourteen years before the " discovery " of the stream by De Soto. 

3 The present normal depth at this distance from the delta is about 
sixty feet. 



42 SPANISH EXPLOKEBS [1528 

before the sun rose, we saw smoke in several places along the 
shore. Attempting to reach them, we found ourselves in three 
fathoms of water, and in the darkness we dared not come to 
land ; for as we had seen so many smokes, some surprise might 
lie in wait, and the obscurity leave us at a loss how to act. We 
determined therefore to stop until morning. 

When day came, the boats had lost sight of each other. I 
found myself in thirty fathoms. Keeping my course until the 
hour of vespers, I observed two boats, and drawing near I 
found that the first I approached was that of the Governor. 
He asked me what I thought we should do. I told him we 
ought to join the boat which went in advance, and by no means 
to leave her; and, the three being together, we must keep on 
our way to where God should be pleased to lead. He answered 
saying that could not be done, because the boat was far to sea 
and he wished to reach the shore ; that if I wished to follow him, 
I should order the persons of my boat to take the oars and 
work, as it was only by strength of arm that the land could be 
gained. He was advised to this course by a captain with him 
named Pantoja, who said that if he did not fetch land that day, 
in six days more they would not reach it, and in that time they 
must inevitably famish. Discovering his will I took my oar, 
and so did every one his, in my boat, to obey it. We rowed 
until near sunset; but the Governor having in his boat the 
healthiest of all the men, we could not by any means hold 
with or follow her. Seeing this, I asked him to give me a rope 
from his boat, that I might be enabled to keep up with him ; 
but he answered me that he would do much, if they, as they 
were, should be able to reach the land that night. I said to 
him, that since he saw the feeble strength we had to follow 
him, and do what he ordered, he must tell me how he 
would that I should act. He answered that it was no longer 
a time in which one should command another ; but that each 
should do what he thought best to save his own life ; that he 
so intended to act ; and saying this, he departed with his boat. 1 

1 The selfishness and incompetence of Narvaez, shown throughout the 
narration, are here further exemplified. His life had more than once been 



1528] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 43 

As I could not follow him, I steered to the other boat at 
sea, which waited for me, and having come up, I found her 
to be the one commanded by the Captains Penalosa and 
Tellez. 

Thus we continued in company, eating a daily allowance 
of half a handful of raw maize, until the end of four days, 
when we lost sight of each other in a storm; and such was 
the weather that only by God's favor we did not all go down. 
Because of- winter and its inclemency, the many days we had 
suffered hunger, and the heavy beating of the waves, the peo- 
ple began next day to despair in such a manner that when the 
sun sank, all who were in my boat were fallen one on another, 
so near to death that there were few among them in a state 
of sensibility. Of the whole number at this time not five men 
were on their feet; and when night came, only the master 
and myself were left, who could work the boat. Two hours 
after dark, he said to me that I must take charge of her as he 
was in such condition he believed he should die that night. 
So I took the paddle, and going after midnight to see if the 
master was alive he said to me he was rather better, and would 
take the charge until day. I declare in that hour I would 
more willingly have died than seen so many people before me 
in such condition. After the master took the direction of the 
boat, I lay down a little while ; but without repose, for nothing 
at that time was farther from me than sleep. 

Near the dawn of day, it seemed to me I heard the tum- 
bling of the sea; for as the coast was low, it roared loudly. 
Surprised at this, I called to the master, who answered me 
that he believed we were near the land. We sounded and 
found ourselves in seven fathoms. He advised that we should 
keep to sea until sunrise ; accordingly I took an oar and pulled 
on the land side, until we were a league distant, when we gave 
her stern to the sea. ,,Near the shore a wave took us, that 
knocked the boat out of water the distance of the throw of a 

spared through the self-sacrifice of his men, yet he now thought more of saving 
himself, with the aid of his hardy crew, than of lending a hand to his weakened 
companions. 



44 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1528 

crowbar, 1 and from the violence with which she struck, nearly 
all the people who were in her like dead, were roused to con- 
sciousness. Finding themselves near the shore, they began 
to move on hands and feet, crawling to land into some ravines. 
There we made fire, parched some of the maize we brought, 
and found rain water. From the warmth of the fire the people 
recovered their faculties, and began somewhat to exert them- 
selves. The day on which we arrived was the sixth of Novem- 
ber [1528]. 

Chapter 11 
Of what befell Lope de Oviedo with the Indians. 

After the people had eaten, I ordered Lope de Oviedo, who 
had more strength and was stouter than any of the rest, to go 
to some trees that were near by, and climbing into one of 
them to look about and try to gain knowledge of the country. 
He did as I bade, and made out that we were on an island. 2 
He saw that the land was pawed up in the manner that ground 
is wont to be where cattle range, whence it appeared to him 
that this should be a country of Christians; and thus he re- 
ported to us. I ordered him to return and examine much 
more particularly, and see if there were any roads that were 
worn, but without going far, because there might be danger. 

He went, and coming to a path, took it for the distance of 
half a league, and found some huts, without tenants, they 
having gone into the field. 3 He took from these an earthen 
pot, a little dog, some few mullets, and returned. As it ap- 
peared to us he was gone a long time, we sent two men that they 
should look to see what might have happened. They met 
him near by, and saw that three Indians with bows and ar- 

1 Juego de herradura, a game played with an iron bar, often a crowbar, 
which is grasped at the middle and cast as far as possible. 

2 See p. 57, note 2. 

3 As this was the root-digging season, the word campo in the original 
evidently refers to the digging "grounds" in the shoal water, and not to 
" woods " as Mr. Smith interpreted it. 



1528] NAKKATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 45 

rows followed and were calling to him, while he, in the same 
way, was beckoning them on. Thus he arrived where we 
were, the natives remaining a little way back, seated on the 
shore. Half an hour after, they were supported by one hun- 
dred other Indian bowmen, 1 who if they were not large, our 
fears made giants of them. They stopped near us with the 
first three. It were idle to think that any among us could 
make defence, for it would have been difficult to find six that 
could rise from the ground. The assessor and I went out and 
called to them, and they came to us. We endeavored the best 
we could to encourage them and secure their favor. We gave 
them beads and hawk-bells, and each of them gave me an 
arrow, which is a pledge of friendship. They told us by signs 
that they would return in the morning and bring us something 
to eat, as at that time they had nothing. 2 



Chapter 12 
The Indians bring us food. 

At sunrise the next day, the time the Indians appointed, 
they came according to their promise, and brought us a large 
quantity of fish with certain roots, some a little larger than wal- 
nuts, others a trifle smaller, the greater part got from under 
the water and with much labor. In the evening they re- 
turned and brought us more fish and roots. They sent their 
women and children to look at us, who went back rich with 
the hawk-bells and beads given them, and they came after- 
wards on other days, returning as before. Finding that we 
had provision, fish, roots, water, and other things we asked 
for, we determined to embark again and pursue our course. 
Having dug out our boat from the sand in which it was buried, 
it became necessary that we should strip, and go through 

1 "Two hundred archers with holes in their ears in which were joints 
of cane." Oviedo, p. 590. 

2 For an account of these Indians, see ch. 14, p. 50, 51. 



46 SPANISH EXPLOREKS [1528 

great exertion to launch her, we being in such a state that 
things very much lighter sufficed to make us great labor. 

Thus embarked, at the distance of two crossbow shots in 
the sea we shipped a wave that entirely wet us. As we were 
naked, and the cold was very great, the oars loosened in our 
hands, and the next blow the sea struck us, capsized the boat. 
The assessor * and two others held fast to her for preservation, 
but it happened to be far otherwise; the boat carried them 
over, and they were drowned under her. As the surf near the 
shore was very high, a single roll of the sea threw the rest into 
the waves and half drowned upon the shore of the island, with- 
out our losing any more than those the boat took down. The 
survivors escaped naked as they were born, with the loss of all 
they had ; and although the whole was of little value, at that 
time it was worth much, as we were then in November, the 
cold was severe, and our bodies were so emaciated the bones 
might be counted with little difficulty, having become the per- 
fect figures of death. For myself I can say that from the 
month of May passed, I had eaten no other thing than maize, 
and sometimes I found myself obliged to eat it unparched; 
for although the beasts were slaughtered while the boats were 
building, I could never eat their flesh, and I did not eat fish 
ten times. I state this to avoid giving excuses, and that 
every one may judge in what condition we were. Besides all 
these misfortunes, came a north wind upon us, from which we 
were nearer to death than life. Thanks be to our Lord that, 
looking among the brands we had used there, we found sparks 
from which we made great fires. And thus were we asking 
mercy of Him and pardon for our transgressions, shedding 
many tears, and each regretting not his own fate alone, but 
that of his comrades about him. 

At sunset, the Indians thinking that we had not gone, came 
to seek us and bring us food ; but when they saw us thus, in a 
plight so different from what it was before, and so extraordi- 
nary, they were alarmed and turned back. I went toward 
them and called, when they returned much frightened. 

1 Alonzo de Solis. 



1528] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 47 

I gave them to understand by signs that our boat had sunk 
and three of our number had been drowned. There, before 
them, they saw two of the departed, and we who remained 
were near joining them. The Indians, at sight of what had 
befallen us, and our state of suffering and melancholy destitu- 
tion, sat down among us, and from the sorrow and pity they 
felt, they all began to lament so earnestly that they might 
have been heard at a distance, and continued so doing more 
than half an hour. It was strange to see these men, wild and 
untaught, howling like brutes over our misfortunes. It caused 
in me as in others, an increase of feeling and a livelier sense of 
our calamity. 

The cries having ceased, I talked with the Christians, and 
said that if it appeared well to them, I would beg these Indians 
to take us to their houses. Some, who had been in New Spain, 
replied that we ought not to think of it ; for if they should do 
so, they would sacrifice us to their idols. But seeing no better 
course, and that any other led to a nearer and more certain 
death, I disregarded what was said, and besought the Indians 
to take us to their dwellings. They signified that it would 
give them delight, and that we should tarry a little, that they 
might do what we asked. Presently thirty men loaded them- 
selves with wood and started for their houses, which were far 
off, 1 and we remained with the others until near night, when, 
holding us up, they carried us with all haste. Because of the 
extreme coldness of the weather, lest any one should die or 
fail by the way, they caused four or five very large fires to be 
placed at intervals, and at each they warmed us; and when 
they saw that we had regained some heat and strength, they 
took us to the next so swiftly that they hardly let us touch 
our feet to the ground. In this manner we went as far as 
their habitations, where we found that they had made a house 
for us with many fires in it. An hour after our arrival, they 

1 As he does not speak of crossing water, the dwellings of these Indians 
were doubtless those seen by Lope de Oviedo on the island, where they lived 
from October until March, for the purpose of obtaining the roots from the 
shoal water, as well as fish and oysters. 



48 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1528 

began to dance and hold great rejoicing, which lasted all 
night, although for us there was no joy, festivity nor sleep, 
awaiting the hour they should make us victims. In the morn- 
ing they again gave us fish and roots, showing us such hospi- 
tality that we were reassured, and lost somewhat the fear of 
sacrifice. 

Chapter 13 
We hear of other Christians. 

This day I saw a native with an article of traffic I knew 
was not one we had bestowed ; and asking whence it came, I 
was told by signs that it had been given by men like ourselves 
who were behind. Hearing this I sent two Indians, and with 
them two Christians to be shown those persons. They met 
near by, 1 as the men were coming to look after us; for the 
Indians of the place where they were, gave them information 
concerning us. They were Captains Andres Dorantes and 
Alonzo del Castillo, with all the persons of their boat. Having 
come up they were surprised at seeing us in the condition we 
were, and very much pained at having nothing to give us, as 
they had brought no other clothes than what they had on. 

Thus together again, they related that on the fifth day of 
that month, 2 their boat had capsized a league and a half 3 from 
there, and they escaped without losing any thing. We all 
agreed to refit their [our] boat, that those of us might go in 
her who had vigor sufficient and disposition to do so, and the 
rest should remain until they became well enough to go, as 
they best might, along the coast until God our Lord should 
be pleased to conduct us alike to a land of Christians. Di- 
rectly as we arranged this, we set ourselves to work. Before 
we threw the boat out into the water, Tavera, a gentleman of 

1 This would seem to indicate that Dorantes' boat was cast ashore on the 
same island. 

2 November, 1528. Dorantes' boat was therefore cast ashore the day 
before the landing of Cabeza de Vaca's party. 

3 About four miles. 



1528] NAKRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 49 

our company, died; and the boat, which we thought to use, 
came to its end, sinking from unfitness to float. 

As we were in the condition I have mentioned, the greater 
number of us naked, and the weather boisterous for travel, 
and to cross rivers and bays by swimming, and we being en- 
tirely without provisions or the means of carrying any, we 
yielded obedience to what necessity required, to pass the win- 
ter in the place where we were. We also agreed that four men 
of the most robust should go on to Panunco, 1 which we be- 
lieved to be near, and if, by Divine favor, they should reach 
there, they could give information of our remaining on that 
island, and of our sorrows and destitution. These men were 
excellent swimmers. One of them was Alvaro Fernandez, a 
Portuguese sailor and carpenter, the second was named Men- 
dez, the third Figueroa, who was a native of Toledo, and the 
fourth Astudillo, a native of Qafra. They took with them an 
Indian of the island of Auia. 2 



Chapter 14 

The departure of four Christians. 

The four Christians being gone, after a few days such cold 
and tempestuous weather succeeded that the Indians could 
not pull up roots, the cane weirs in which they took fish no 
longer yielded any thing, and the houses being very open, our 
people began to die. Five Christians, of a mess [quartered] 
on the coast, came to such extremity that they ate their dead ; 
the body of the last one only was found unconsumed. Their 
names were Sierra, Diego Lopez, Corral, Palacios and Gongalo 
Ruiz. This produced great commotion among the Indians 

1 Panuco, previously referred to. 

2 The edition of 1542 omits the last two words. Auia has been regarded 
as the native name of Malhado Island, but this is seemingly an error, otherwise 
Cabeza de Vaca would in all probability have mentioned the nativity of the 
Indian in later speaking (ch. 17) of his death from cold and hunger. Her- 
rera says: "the island of Cuba," which seems more probable. 



50 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1528 

giving rise to so much censure that had they known it in 
season to have done so, doubtless they would have destroyed 
any survivor, and we should have found ourselves in the ut- 
most perplexity. Finally, of eighty men who arrived in the 
two instances, fifteen only remained alive. 

After this, the natives were visited by a disease of the 
bowels, of which half their number died. They conceived that 
we had destroyed them, 1 and believing it firmly, they concerted 
among themselves to dispatch those of us who survived. 
When they were about to execute their purpose, an Indian 
who had charge of me, told them not to believe we were the 
cause of those deaths, since if we had such power we should 
also have averted the fatality from so many of our people, 
whom they had seen die without our being able to minister 
relief, already very few of us remaining, and none doing hurt 
or wrong, and that it would be better to leave us unharmed. 
God our Lord willed that the others should heed this opinion 
and counsel, and be hindered in their design. 

To this island we gave the name Malhado. 2 The people 3 
we found there are large and well formed ; they have no other 
arms than bows and arrows, in the use of which they are very 
dexterous. The men have one of their nipples bored from 
side to side, and some have both, wearing a cane in each, the 
length of two palms and a half, and the thickness of two fin- 
gers. They have the under lip also bored, and wear in it a 
piece of cane the breadth of half a finger. Their women are 
accustomed to great toil. The stay they make on the island 
is from October to the end of February. Their subsistence 
then is the root I have spoken of, got from under the water in 
November and December. They have weirs of cane and take 
fish only in this season; afterwards they live on the roots. 
At the end of February, they go into other parts to seek food ; 
for then the root is beginning to grow and is not food. 

Those people love their offspring the most of any in the 

1 That is, the Indians believed the Christians to be sorcerers. 

2 "Misfortune," "ill-fate." 

3 The Capoques, or Cahoques, and the Hans. See ch. 26. 



1528] NARKATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 51 

world, and treat them with the greatest mildness. 1 When it 
occurs that a son dies, the parents and kindred weep as does 
everybody; the wailing continuing for him a whole year. 
They begin before dawn every day, the parents first and after 
them the whole town. They do the same at noon and at sun- 
set. After a year of mourning has passed, the rites of the 
dead are performed; then they wash and purify themselves 
from the stain of smoke. They lament all the deceased in 
this manner, except the aged, for whom they show no regret, 
as they say that their season has passed, they having no en- 
joyment, and that living they would occupy the earth and 
take aliment from the young. Their custom is to bury the 
dead, unless it be those among them who have been physi- 
cians. These they burn. While the fire kindles they are all 
dancing and making high festivity, until the bones become 
powder. After the lapse of a year the funeral honors are cele- 
brated, every one taking part in them, when that dust is pre- 
sented in water for the relatives to drink. 2 

Every man has an acknowledged wife. The physicians 
are allowed more freedom : they may have two or three wives, 
among whom exist the greatest friendship and harmony. 
From the time a daughter marries, all that he who takes her 
to wife kills in hunting or catches in fishing, the woman 
brings to the house of her father, without daring to eat or 
take any part of it, and thence victuals are taken to the hus- 
band. From that time neither her father nor mother enters 
his house, nor can he enter theirs, nor the houses of their chil- 
dren ; and if by chance they are in the direction of meeting, 
they turn aside, and pass the distance of a crossbow shot from 
each other, carrying the head low the while, the eyes cast on 
the ground; for they hold it improper to see or to speak to 

1 This is characteristic of all Indians, who punish their children very 
rarely. 

2 Nevertheless these same people were so horrified by the uncanny 
action of the Spaniards who ate their dead companions that they sought to 
put them to death. It should be noted that the Attacapan and probably 
the Karankawan tribes of the Texas coast, to which the people of Malhado 
Island may have belonged, were reputed to be cannibals. 



f 



52 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1529 

each other. 1 But the woman has liberty to converse and 
communicate with the parents and relatives of her husband. 
The custom exists from this island the distance of more than 
fifty leagues inland. 

There is another custom, which is, when a son or brother 
dies, at the house where the death takes place they do not go 
after food for three months, but sooner famish, their relatives 
and neighbors providing what they eat. As in the time we 
were there a great number of the natives died, in most houses 
there was very great hunger, because of the keeping of this 
their custom and observance; for although they who sought 
after food worked hard, yet from the severity of the season 
they could get but little; in consequence, the Indians who 
kept me, left the island, and passed over in canoes to the 
main, into some bays where are many oysters. For three 
months in the year they eat nothing besides these, and drink 
very bad water. 2 There is great want of wood: mosquitos 
are in great plenty. The houses are of mats, set up on masses 
of oyster shells, which they sleep upon, and in skins, should 
they accidentally possess them. In this way we lived until 
April [1529], when we went to the seashore, where we ate 
blackberries all the month, during which time the Indians did 
not omit to observe their areitos s and festivities. 



Chapter 15 

What befell us among the people of Malhado. 

On an island of which I have spoken, they wished to make 
us physicians without examination or inquiring for diplomas. 
They cure by blowing upon the sick, and with that breath and 

1 Tabu of the mother-in-law by a young man is quite common among the 
Indians, but refusal to see or to speak to the wife's father is very rare. 

2 On their food, compare Oviedo, p. 592. 

3 An areito, or areyto, was a dance ceremony of the Arawak Indians of 
the West Indies in which their traditions were recounted in chants. Like 
buhio, previously mentioned, the word was now carried to the continent. 



1529] NABRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 53 

the imposing of hands they cast out infirmity. They ordered 
that we also should do this, and be of use to them in some way. 
We laughed at what they did, telling them it was folly, that 
we knew not how to heal. In consequence, they withheld 
food from us until we should practise what they required. 
Seeing our persistence, an Indian told me I knew not what I 
uttered, in saying that what he knew availed nothing; for 
stones and other matters growing about in the fields have vir- 
tue, and that passing a pebble along the stomach would take 
away pain and restore health, and certainly then we who were 
extraordinary men must possess power and efficacy over all 
other things. At last, finding ourselves in great want we were 
constrained to obey; but without fear lest we should be 
blamed for any failure or success. 

Their custom is, on finding themselves sick to send for a 
physician, and after he has applied the cure, they give him 
not only all they have, but seek among their relatives for more 
to give. The practitioner scarifies over the seat of pain, and 
then sucks about the wound. They make cauteries with fire, 
a remedy among them in high repute, which I have tried on 
myself and found benefit from it. They afterwards blow on 
the spot, and having finished, the patient considers that he 
is relieved. 

Our method was to bless the sick, breathing upon them, 
and recite a Pater-noster and an Ave-Maria, praying with all 
earnestness to God our Lord that he would give health and in- 
fluence them to make us some good return. In his clemency 
he willed that all those for whom we supplicated, should tell 
the others that they were sound and in health, directly after 
we made the sign of the blessed cross over them. For this 
the Indians treated us kindly; they deprived themselves of 
food that they might give to us, and presented us with skins 
and some trifles. 

So protracted was the hunger we there experienced, that 
many times I was three days without eating. The natives 
also endured as much ; and it appeared to me a thing impossi- 
ble that life could be so prolonged, although afterwards I 



54 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1529 

found myself in greater hunger and necessity, which I shall 
speak of farther on. 

The Indians who had Alonzo del Castillo, Andres Dorantes, 
and the others that remained alive, were of a different tongue 
and ancestry from these, 1 and went to the opposite shore of 
the main to eat oysters, where they staid until the first day of 
April, when they returned. The distance is two leagues in 
the widest part. The island is half a league in breadth and 
five leagues in length. 2 

The inhabitants of all this region go naked. The women 
alone have any part of their persons covered, and it is with a 
wool 3 that grows on trees. The damsels dress themselves in 
deer-skin. The people are generous to each other of what 
they possess. They have no chief. All that are of a lineage 
keep together. They speak two languages; those of one are 
called Capoques, those of the other, Han. 4 They have a cus- 
tom when they meet, or from time to time when they visit, of 
remaining half an hour before they speak, weeping; 5 and, 
this over, he that is visited first rises and gives the other all 
he has, which is received, and after a little while he carries it 
away, and often goes without saying a word. They have 

1 These were evidently the Hans, of whom he speaks later. 

2 See p. 57, note 2. 3 Spanish moss. 

4 Important as it is in affording evidence of the route of Cabeza de Vaca 
and his companions, it is not possible, with our present knowledge of the 
former tribes of the coast region of Texas, to identify with certainty the vari- 
ous Indians mentioned by the narrator. Whether the names given by him are 
those which the natives applied to themselves or are those given by other 
tribes is unknown, and as no remnant of this once considerable coast popula- 
tion now exists, the only hope of the ultimate determination of these Indians 
lies in the historical archives of Texas, Mexico, and Spain. The two lan- 
guages and stocks represented on the island of Malhado — the Capoque and 
the Han — would seem to apply to the Karankawan and Attacapan fam- 
ilies respectively. The Capoques (called Cahoques on p. 87) are seemingly 
identical with the Cocos who lived with the Mayayes on the coast between 
the Brazos and Colorado Rivers in 1778, and with the Cokes, who as late as 
1850 are described as a branch of the Koronks (Karankawa). Of the Han 
people nothing more definite is known than that which is here recorded. 

5 Compare Barcia, Ensayo, 263, 1723, and Gatschet in Archaeological and 
Ethnological Papers of the Peabody Museum, Harvard University, 1891, for 
references to these "weepers." 



1529] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 55 

other strange customs ; but I have told the principal of them, 
and the most remarkable, that I may pass on and further 
relate what befell us. 

Chapter 16 

The Christians leave the island of Malhado. 

After Dorantes and Castillo returned to the island, they 
brought together the Christians, who were somewhat sepa- 
rated, and found them in all to be fourteen. As I have said, 
I was opposite on the main, where my Indians had taken me, 
and where so great sickness had come upon me, that if any- 
thing before had given me hopes of life, this were enough to 
have entirely bereft me of them. 

When the Christians heard of my condition, they gave 
an Indian the cloak of marten skins we had taken from the 
cacique, as before related, to pass them over to where I was 
that they might visit me. Twelve of them crossed ; for two 
were so feeble that their comrades could not venture to bring 
them. The names of those who came were Alonzo del Castillo, 
Andres Dorantes, Diego Dorantes, Valdevieso, 1 Estrada, 
Tostado, Chaves, Gutierrez, Asturiano a clergyman, Diego de 
Huelva, Estevanico the black, and Benitez ; and when they 
reached the main land, they found another, who was one of 
our company, named Francisco de Leon. The thirteen to- 
gether followed along the coast. So soon as they had come 
over, my Indians informed me of it, and that Hieronymo de 
Alvaniz 2 and Lope de Oviedo remained on the island. But 
sickness prevented me from going with my companions or 
even seeing them. 

I was obliged to remain with the people belonging to the 
island 3 more than a year, and because of the hard work they 
put upon me and the harsh treatment, I resolved to flee from 

1 Diego Dorantes and Pedro de Valdivieso were cousins of Andres Dor- 
antes. See p. 69. 

2 Called also Alaniz — the notary. 3 The Capoques. 



56 SPANISH EXPLOEERS [1530 

them and go to those of Charruco, who inhabit the forests 
and country of the main, the life I led being insupportable. 
Besides much other labor, I had to get out roots from below 
the water, and from among the cane where they grew in the 
ground. From this employment I had my fingers so worn 
that did a straw but touch them they would bleed. Many of 
the canes are broken, so they often tore my flesh, and I had 
to go in the midst of them with only the clothing on I have 
mentioned. 

Accordingly, I put myself to contriving how I might get 
over to the other Indians, among whom matters turned some- 
what more favorably for me. I set to trafficking, and strove 
to make my employment profitable in the ways I could best 
contrive, and by that means I got food and good treatment. 
The Indians would beg me to go from one quarter to another 
for things of which they have need ; for in consequence of in- 
cessant hostilities, they cannot traverse the country, nor make 
many exchanges. With my merchandise and trade I went 
into the interior as far as I pleased, and travelled along the 
coast forty or fifty leagues. The principal wares were cones and 
other pieces of sea-snail, conchs used for cutting, and fruit 
like a bean of the highest value among them, which they use 
as a medicine and employ in their dances and festivities. 
Among other matters were sea-beads. Such were what I 
carried into the interior; and in barter I got and brought 
back skins, ochre with which they rub and color the face, hard 
canes of which to make arrows, sinews, cement and flint for the 
heads, and tassels of the hair of deer that by dyeing they make 
red. This occupation suited me well; for the travel allowed 
me liberty to go where I wished, I was not obliged to work, 
and was not a slave. Wherever I went I received fair treat- 
ment, and the Indians gave me to eat out of regard to my 
commodities. My leading object, while journeying in this 
business, was to find out the way by which I should go for- 
ward, and I became well known. The inhabitants were 
pleased when they saw me, and I had brought them what 
they wanted; and those who did not know me sought and 



1533] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 57 

desired the acquaintance, for my reputation. The hardships 
that I underwent in this were long to tell, as well of peril and 
privation as of storms and cold. Oftentimes they overtook 
me alone and in the wilderness ;' but I came forth from them 
all by the great mercy of God our Lord. Because of them I 
avoided pursuing the business in winter, a season in which 
the natives themselves retire to their huts and ranches, torpid 
and incapable of exertion. 

I was in this country nearly six years, 1 alone among the 
Indians, and naked like them. The reason why I remained so 
long, was that I might take with me the Christian, Lope de 
Oviedo, from the island; Alaniz, his companion, who had 
been left with him by Alonzo del Castillo, and by Andres 
Dorantes, and the rest, died soon after their departure; and 
to get the survivor out from there, I went over to the island 
every year, and entreated him that we should go, in the best 
way we could contrive, in quest of Christians. He put me off 
every year, saying in the next coming we would start. At 
last I got him off, crossing him over the bay, and over four 
rivers in the coast, 2 as he could not swim. In this way we 

1 From 1528 to 1533. 

2 The identification of Malhado Island is a difficult problem. On general 
principles Galveston Island would seem to supply the conditions, in that it 
more likely would have been inhabited by two distinct tribes, perhaps repre- 
senting distinct linguistic families, as it is known to have been occupied by 
Indians (the Karankawa) at a later period, besides having the smaller island 
or islands behind it. But its size and the other conditions are not in favor of 
the identification, for its length is at least twice as great as that of Malhado, 
as given in the narrative, and it is also more than two leagues from its nearest 
end to the first stream that the Spaniards crossed after departing from the is- 
land (Oviedo, p. 593). Mr. James Newton Baskett suggests that the so-called 
Velasco Island, next south of Galveston Island, better fulfils the requirements, 
as indeed it does topographically, except for the fact that it is really a penin- 
sula. Aside from this, it possesses all the physical features, — length and width, 
distance from the first stream to the southward, and having the necessary 
island or islands (Mud and San Luis) off its northern shore. Accepting Mr. 
Baskett's determination, it is not difficult to account for the four streams, 
"very large and of rapid current," one of which flowed directly into the gulf. 
Following the journey of the Spaniards from the island, down the coast, in 
April, when the streams were swollen by flood, the first river was crossed in 
two leagues after they had reached the mainland. This was evidently 
Oyster Creek. Three leagues farther was another river, running so power- 



58 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1533 

went on with some Indians, until coming to a bay a league in 
width, and everywhere deep. From the appearance we sup- 
posed it to be that which is called Espiritu Sancto. We met 
some Indians on the other side of it, coming to visit ours, who 
told us that beyond them were three men like us, and gave 
their names. We asked for the others, and were told that 
they were all dead of cold and hunger; that the Indians far- 
ther on, of whom they were, for their diversion had killed 
Diego Dorantes, Valdevieso, and Diego de Huelva, 1 because 
they left one house for another ; and that other Indians, their 
neighbors with whom Captain Dorantes now was, had in con- 
sequence of a dream, killed Esquivel and Mendez. 2 We asked 

fully that one of the rafts was driven to sea more than a league. This fully 
agrees with the Brazos, which indeed is the only large stream of the land- 
locked Texas coast that flows directly into the gulf. Four leagues still 
farther they reached another river, where the boat of the comptroller and the 
commissary was found. From this fact it may be assumed that this stream 
also flowed into the open gulf, a condition satisfied by Caney Creek. The 
San Bernardo may well have escaped notice in travelling near the coast, 
from the fact that it flows into Cedar Lake. Five or six leagues more brought 
them to another large river (the Colorado), which the Indians carried them 
across in a canoe ; and in four days they reached the bay of Espiritu Santo 
(La Vaca Bay?). "The bay was broad, nearly a league across. The side 
toward Panuco [the south] forms a point running out nearly a quarter of a 
league, having on it some large white sand-stacks which it is reasonable to 
suppose can be descried from a distance at sea, and were consequently 
thought to mark the River Espiritu Santo." After two days of exertion they 
succeeded in crossing the bay in a broken canoe ; and at the end of twelve 
leagues they came to a small bay not more than the breadth of a river. 
Here they found Figueroa, the only survivor of the four who had attempted 
to return to Mexico. The distance from Malhado Island is given as sixty 
leagues, consequently the journey from the Colorado to the bay now reached, 
which seems to be no other than San Antonio Bay, covered thirty-two to 
thirty-three leagues. Lofty sand dunes, such as those seen on what we regard 
as perhaps La Vaca Bay, occur on San Antonio Bay. See United States 
Coast Survey Report for 1859, p. 325. The western shore of the bay is a bluff 
or bank of twenty feet. "At one place on this side, a singular range of sand- 
hills, known as the Sand-mounds, approaches the shore. The highest peak 
is about seventy-five feet above the bay." 

1 These were all members of Dorantes' party who visited Cabeza de Vaca 
when he was ill on the mainland. See p. 55. 

2 Esquivel was one of the party under Enrriquez the comptroller ; Men- 
dez was one of the good swimmers who started from the island in the hope of 
reaching Panuco. 



1533] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 59 

how the living were situated, and they answered that they 
were very ill used, the boys and some of the Indian men being 
very idle, out of cruelty gave them many kicks, cuffs, and 
blows with sticks; that such was the life they led. 

We desired to be informed of the country ahead, and of 
the subsistence : they said there was nothing to eat, and that 
it was thin of people, who suffered of cold, having no skins or 
other things to cover them. They told us also if we wished 
to see those three Christians, two days from that time the 
Indians who had them would come to eat walnuts a league 
from there on the margin of that river; and that we might 
know what they told us of the ill usage to be true, they slapped 
my companion and beat him with a stick, and I was not left 
without my portion. Many times they threw lumps of mud 
at us, and every day they put their arrows to our hearts, say- 
ing that they were inclined to kill us in the way that they had 
destroyed our friends. Lope Oviedo, my comrade, in fear 
said that he wished to go back with the women of those who 
had crossed the bay with us, the men having remained some 
distance behind. I contended strongly against his returning, 
and urged my objections; but in no way could I keep him. 
So he went back, and I remained alone with those savages. 
They are called Quevenes, 1 and those with whom he returned, 
Deaguanes. 2 

Chapter 17 

The coming of Indians with Andres Dorantes, Castillo, and 

Estevanico. 

Two days after Lope de Oviedo left, the Indians who had 
Alonzo del Castillo and Andres Dorantes, came to the place of 
which we had been told, to eat walnuts. These are ground 
with a kind of small grain, and this is the subsistence of the 

1 Guevenes in the edition of 1542 (Bandelier translation) . There is reason 
to believe that these people may have been identical with the Cohani, who 
lived west of the Colorado River of Texas in the first quarter of the nine- 
teenth century. 2 Doguenes in ch. 26. 



60 SPANISH EXPLOEEES [1533 

people two months in the year without any other thing ; but 
even the nuts they do not have every season, as the tree pro- 
duces in alternate years. The fruit is the size of that in Ga- 
licia ; the trees are very large and numerous. 

An Indian told me of the arrival of the Christians, and 
that if I wished to see them I must steal away and flee to the 
point of a wood to which he directed me, and that as he and 
others, kindred of his, should pass by there to visit those 
Indians, they would take me with them to the spot where the 
Christians were. I determined to attempt this and trust to 
them, as they spoke a language distinct from that of the 
others. I did so, and the next day they left, and found me 
in the place that had been pointed out, and accordingly took 
me with them. 

When I arrived near their abode, Andres Dorantes came 
out to see who it could be, for the Indians had told him that 
a Christian was coming. His astonishment was great when 
he saw me, as they had for many a day considered me dead, 
and the natives had said that I was. We gave many thanks 
at seeing ourselves together, and this was a day to us of the 
greatest pleasure we had enjoyed in life. Having come to 
where Castillo was, they inquired of me where I was going. 
I told them my purpose was to reach the land of Christians, I 
being then in search and pursuit of it. Andres Dorantes said 
that for a long time he had entreated Castillo and Estevanico 
to go forward ; but that they dared not venture, because they 
knew not how to swim, and greatly dreaded the rivers and 
bays they should have to cross, there being many in that 
country. Thus the Almighty had been pleased to preserve 
me through many trials and diseases, conducting me in the 
end to the fellowship of those who had abandoned me, that I 
might lead them over the bays and rivers that obstructed our 
progress. They advised me on no account to let the natives 
know or have a suspicion of my desire to go on, else they would 
destroy me ; and that for success it would be necessary for me 
to remain quiet until the end of six months, when comes the 
season in which these Indians go to another part of the coun- 



1533] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 61 

try to eat prickly pears. 1 People would arrive from parts 
farther on, bringing bows to barter and for exchange, with 
whom, after making our escape, we should be able to go on 
their return. Having consented to this course, I remained. 
The prickly pear is the size of a hen's egg, vermillion and 
black in color, and of agreeable flavor. The natives live on 
it three months in the year, having nothing beside. 

I was given as a slave to an Indian, with whom was Do- 
rantes. He was blind of one eye, as were also his wife and 
sons, and likewise another who was with him; so that of a 
fashion they were all blind. These are called Marians ; 2 Cas- 
tillo was with another neighboring people, called Yguases. 3 

While here the Christians related to me how they had left 
the island of Malhado, and found the boat in which the comp- 
troller and the friars had sailed, bottom up on the seashore; 
and that going along crossing the rivers, which are four, 4 very 
large and of rapid current, their boats 5 were swept away and 
carried to sea, where four of their number were drowned; 
that thus they proceeded until they crossed the bay, getting 
over it with great difficulty, and fifteen leagues thence they 
came to another. By the time they reached this, they had 
lost two companions in the sixty leagues they travelled, and 
those remaining were nearly dead, in all the while having eaten 
nothing but crabs and rockweed. 6 Arrived at this bay, they 
found Indians eating mulberries, who, when they saw them, 
went to a cape opposite. While contriving and seeking for 
some means to cross the bay, there came over to them an 
Indian, and a Christian whom they recognized to be Figueroa, 

1 The fruit of the Opuntia cactus, of which there are about two hundred 
species. 

2 Mariames in ch. 26, and in the edition of 1542. These people are not 
identified. They were possibly of Karankawan or Coahuiltecan affinity, but 
there is no direct evidence of this. 

3 Iguaces in the edition of 1542. 4 See p. 57, note 2. 

5 Rafts built for the purpose of crossing the streams. 

6 Yerba pedrera: "Of which glass is made in Spain." Oviedo, p. 593. 
Doubtless kelp. It was burned and from the product glass and soap were 
formerly manufactured. It is still a source of manufacture of carbonate of 
soda and iodine. 



62 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1528 

one of the four we had sent forward from the island of Mal- 
hado. He there recounted how he and his companions had 
got as far as that place, when two of them and an Indian * 
died of cold and hunger, being exposed in the most inclement 
of seasons. He and Mendez were taken by the Indians, and 
while with them his associate fled, going as well as he could 
in the direction of Panuco, and the natives pursuing, put him 
to death. 

While living with these Indians, Figueroa learned from 
them that there was a Christian among the Mariames, who 
had come over from the opposite side, and he found him 
among the Quevenes. This was Hernando de Esquivel, a na- 
tive of Badajoz, who had come in company with the com- 
missary. From him Figueroa learned the end to which the 
Governor, the comptroller, and the others had come. Esqui- 
vel told him that the comptroller and the friars had upset 
their boat at the confluence of the rivers, 2 and that the boat 
of the Governor, moving along the coast, came with its people 
to land. Narvdez went in the boat until arriving at that great 
bay, where he took in the people, and, crossing them to the 
opposite point, returned for the comptroller, the friars, and the 
rest. And he related that being disembarked, the Governor 
had recalled the commission the comptroller held as his lieu- 
tenant, assigning the duties to a captain with him named Pan- 
toja : that Narvaez stayed the night in his boat, not wishing 
to come on shore, having a cockswain with him and a page 
who was unwell, there being no water nor anything to eat on 
board; that at midnight, the boat having only a stone for 
anchor, the north wind blowing strongly took her unobserved 
to sea, and they never knew more of their commander. 

The others then went along the coast, and as they were 
arrested by a wide extent of water, they made rafts with much 
labor, on which they crossed to the opposite shore. Going on, 
they arrived at a point of woods on the banks of the water 

1 Alvaro Fernandez, the Portuguese sailor and carpenter ; Astudillo, the 
native of Zafra; and the Indian from the island of "Auia" (Cuba). 

2 The Mississippi delta. 



1529] NAKRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 63 

where were Indians, who, as they saw them coming, put their 
houses * into their canoes and went over to the opposite side. 
The Christians, in consideration of the season, for it was now 
the month of November, stopped at this wood, where they 
found water and fuel, some crabs and shell-fish. They began, 
one by one, to die of cold and hunger; and, more than this, 
Panto j a, who was Lieutenant-Governor, used them severely, 
which Soto-Mayor (the brother of Vasco Porcallo, of the 
island of Cuba), who had come with the armament as camp- 
master, not being able to bear, had a struggle with him, and, 
giving him a blow with a club, Panto j a was instantly killed. 
Thus did the number go on diminishing. The living dried 
the flesh of them that died ; and the last that died was Soto- 
Mayor, when Esquivel preserved his flesh, and, feeding on it, 
sustained existence until the first of March, when an Indian 
of those that had fled, coming to see if they were alive, took 
Esquivel with him. While he was in the possession of the 
native, Figueroa saw him, and learned all that had been re- 
lated. He besought Esquivel to come with him, that together 
they might pursue the way to Panuco; to which Esquivel 
would not consent, saying that he had understood from the 
friars that Panuco had been left behind : 2 so he remained there 
and Figueroa went to the coast where he was accustomed to 
live. 

Chapter 18 

The story Figueroa recounted from Esquivel. 

This account was all given by Figueroa, according to the 
relation he received from Esquivel, and from him through the 
others it came to me; whence may be seen and understood 
the fate of the armament, and the individual fortunes of the 
greater part of the people. Figueroa said, moreover, that if 

1 Doubtless consisting of mats fastened to a framework. 

2 That is, he supposed that he was then somewhere on the coast of central 
Mexico. 



64 SPANISH EXPLOEERS [1529 

the Christians should at any time go in that direction, it were 
possible they might see Esquivel, for he knew that he had 
fled from the Indian with whom he was, to the Mariames, 
who were neighbors. After Figueroa had finished telling the 
story, he and the Asturian made an attempt to go to other 
Indians farther on; but as soon as they who had the Chris- 
tians discovered it, they followed, and beating them severely, 
stripped the Asturian and shot an arrow through his arm. 
They finally escaped by flight. 

The other Christians remained, and prevailed on the 
Indians to receive them as slaves. In their service they were 
abused as slaves never were, nor men in any condition have 
ever been. Not content with frequently buffeting them, strik- 
ing them with sticks, and pulling out their beard for amuse- 
ment, they killed three of the six for only going from one 
house to another. These were the persons I have named be- 
fore : Diego Dorantes, Valdivieso, and Diego de Huelva : and 
the three that remained looked forward to the same fate. 
Not to endure this life, Andres Dorantes fled, and passed to 
the Mariames, the people among whom Esquivel tarried. 
They told him that having had Esquivel there, he wished to 
run away because a woman dreamed that a son of hers would 
kill him ; and that they followed after, and slew him. They 
showed Dorantes his sword, beads, and book, with other 
things that had been his. 1 

Thus in obedience to their custom they take life, destroy- 
ing even their male children on account of dreams. They cast 
away their daughters at birth, and cause them to be eaten by 
dogs. The reason of their doing this, as they state, is because 
all the nations of the country are their foes ; and as they have 
unceasing war with them, if they were to marry away their 
daughters, they would so greatly multiply their enemies that 
they must be overcome and made slaves ; thus they prefer to 
destroy all, rather than that from them should come a single 
enemy. We asked why they did not themselves marry them ; 

1 See the extracts from the letter of the survivors (preserved by Oviedo) 
appended to this chapter. 



1632] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 65 

and they said it would be a disgustful thing to marry among 
relatives, and far better to kill than to give them either to 
their kindred or to their foes. 

This is likewise the practice of their neighbors the Yguazes, 
but of no other people of that country. When the men would 
marry, they buy the women of their enemies : the price paid 
for a wife is a bow, the best that can be got, with two arrows : 
if it happens that the suitor should have no bow, then a net 
a fathom in length and another in breadth. They kill their 
male children, and buy those of strangers. The marriage 
state continues no longer than while the parties are satisfied, 
and they separate for the slightest cause. Dorantes was 
among this people, and after a few days escaped. 

Castillo and Estevanico went inland to the Yguazes. This 
people are universally good archers and of a fine symmetry, 
although not so large as those we left. They have a nipple and 
a lip bored. 1 Their support is principally roots, of two or 
three kinds, and they look for them over the face of all the 
country. The food is poor and gripes the persons who eat it. 
The roots require roasting two days: many are very bitter, 
and withal difficult to be dug. They are sought the distance 
of two or three leagues, and so great is the want these people 
experience, that they cannot get through the year without 
them. Occasionally they kill deer, and at times take fish; 
but the quantity is so small and the famine so great, that 
they eat spiders and the eggs of ants, worms, lizards, sala- 
manders, snakes, and vipers that kill whom they strike ; and 
they eat earth and wood, and all that there is, the dung of 
deer, and other things that I omit to mention ; and I honestly 
believe that were there stones in that land they would eat 
them. They save the bones of the fishes they consume, of 
snakes and other animals, that they may afterwards beat 
them together and eat the powder. The men bear no bur- 
thens, nor carry anything of weight ; such are borne by women 
and old men who are of the least esteem. They have not so 

1 Evidently for the insertion of canes, as was the custom of the Capoques 
and Hans of the island of Malhado. 



66 SPANISH EXPLOKEPvS [1533 

great love for their children as those we have before spoken 
of. 1 Some among them are accustomed to sin against nature. 
The women work very hard, and do a great deal ; of the twenty- 
four hours they have only six of repose ; the rest of the night 
they pass in heating the ovens to bake those roots they eat. 
At daybreak they begin to dig them, to bring wood and water 
to their houses and get in readiness other things that may be 
necessary. The majority of the people are great thieves; for 
though they are free to divide with each other, on turning the 
head, even a son or a father will take what he can. They are 
great liars, and also great drunkards, which they became from 
the use of a certain liquor. 2 

These Indians are so accustomed to running, that without 
rest or fatigue they follow a deer from morning to night. In 
this way they kill many. They pursue them until tired down, 
and sometimes, overtake them in the race. Their houses are 
of matting, placed upon four hoops. They carry them on 
the back, and remove every two or three days in search of 
food. Nothing is planted for support. They are a merry 
people, considering the hunger they suffer; for they never 
cease, notwithstanding, to observe their festivities and areytos. 
To them the happiest part of the year is the season of eating 
prickly pears ; they have hunger then no longer, pass all the 
time in dancing, and eat day and night. While these last, 
they squeeze out the juice, open and set them to dry, and 
when dry they are put in hampers like figs. These they keep 
to eat on their way back. The peel is beaten to powder. 

It occurred to us many times while we were among this 
people, and there was no food, to be three or four days without 
eating, when they, to revive our spirits, would tell us not to be 
sad, that soon there would be prickly pears when we should 
eat a plenty and drink of the juice, when our bellies would be 
very big and we should be content and joyful, having no hun- 

1 The Capoques of Malhado Island. 

2 It is not improbable that the liquor was made from the peyote, or mes- 
cal button, still used by the Kiowa, Comanche, and others to produce stupe- 
faction. See Mooney in Seventeenth Report of the Bureau of American Eth- 
nology, 1898. 



1533] NAEEATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 67 

ger. From the time they first told us this, to that at which 
the earliest were ripe enough to be eaten, was an interval of 
five or six months; so having tarried until the lapse of this 
period, and the season had come, we went to eat the fruit. 
We found mosquitos of three sorts, and all of them abun- 

C dant in every part of the country. They poison and inflame, 
and during the greater part of the summer gave us great 
annoyance. As a protection we made fires, encircling the 
people with them, burning rotten and wet wood to produce 
" smoke without flame. The remedy brought another trouble, 
and the night long we did little else than shed tears from the 
smoke that came into our eyes, besides feeling intense heat 
from the many fires, and if at any time we went out for re- 
pose to the seaside and fell asleep, we were reminded with 
blows to make up the fires. The Indians of the interior have 
a different method, as intolerable, and worse even than the 
one I have spoken of, which is to go with brands in the hand 
firing the plains and forests within their reach, that the mos- 

-* quitos may fly away, and at the same time to drive out liz- 
ards and other like things from the earth for them to eat. 

They are accustomed also to kill deer by encircling them 
with fires. The pasturage is taken from the cattle by burn- 
ing, that necessity may drive them to seek it in places where 
it is desired they should go. They encamp only where there 
are wood and water; and sometimes all carry loads of these 
when they go to hunt deer, which are usually found where 
neither is to be got. On the day of their arrival, they kill 
the deer and other animals which they can, and consume all 
the water and all the wood in cooking and on the fires they 
make to relieve them of mosquitos. They remain the next 
day to get something to sustain them on their return ; and 
, when they go, such is their state from those insects that they 
appear to have the affliction of holy Lazarus. In this way do 
they appease their hunger, two or three times in the year, 
at the cost I have mentioned. From my own experience, I 
can state there is no torment known in this world that can 
equal it. 



68 SPANISH EXPLOEEES [1533 

Inland are many deer, birds, and beasts other than 
those I have spoken of. Cattle * come as far as here. Three 
times I have seen them and eaten of their meat. I think they 
are about the size of those in Spain. They have small horns 
like the cows of Morocco ; the hair is very long and flocky like 
the merino's. Some are tawny, others black. To my judg- 
ment the flesh is finer and fatter than that of this country. 
Of the skins of those not full grown the Indians make blank- 
ets, and of the larger they make shoes and bucklers. They 
come as far as the sea-coast of Florida, from a northerly di- 
rection, ranging through a tract of more than four hundred 
leagues; and throughout the whole region over which they 
run, the people who inhabit near, descend and live upon 
them, distributing a vast many hides into the interior country. 



[Buckingham Smith introduces the following translation 
from the Letter (Oviedo, pp. 594-598) as throwing important 
light on the occurrences related in the foregoing chapter. 
F. W. HJ 

" Thus ended the account of Figueroa, without his being able to 
add more to it, than that Esquivel was about there in the possession 
of some natives, and they might see him in a little while; but a month 
afterwards, it was known that he no longer lived, for having gone 
from the natives, they had followed after and put him to death. 
Figueroa tarried a few moments, long enough to relate the sad news. 
The Indian who brought him would not permit him to remain. 
Asturiano, the clergyman, and a young man being the only ones who 
could swim, accompanied them for the purpose of returning with 
fish which they were promised, as likewise that they should be brought 
back over that bay ; but when the Indians found them at their houses, 
they would neither bring them nor let them return; on the contrary, 
they put their houses into their canoes and took the two Christians 
with them, saying that they would soon come back. . . . 

" The eight companions remained that day to appease their hun- 
ger, and the next morning they saw two Indians of a rancho coming 
over the water to place their dwellings on the hither side. The pur- 
pose was to live on blackberries that grow in some places along the 

1 This is the first printed reference to the bison. 



1529] NAERATIVE OF CABEZA DE VAC A 69 

coast, which they seek at a season they know full well, and although 
precarious, they promise a food that supports life. They called to 
the Indians, who came as to persons they thought lightly of, taking 
some part of what they possessed almost by force. The Christians 
besought the natives to set them over, which they did in a canoe, 
taking them to their houses near by, and at dark gave them a small 
quantity of fish. They went out the next day for more, and returned 
at night, giving them a part of what they had caught. The day fol- 
lowing they moved off with the Christians and never after were the 
two seen whom the other Indians had taken away. 

"At last the natives, weary of seeking food for their guests, turned 
away five, that they should go to some Indians who they said were to 
be found in another bay, six leagues farther on. Alonzo del Castillo 
went there with Pedro de Valdivieso, cousin of Andres Dorantes, and 
another, Diego de Huelva, where they remained a long time ; the two 
others went down near the coast, seeking relief, where they died, as 
Dorantes states, who found the bodies, one of whom, Diego Dorantes, 
was his cousin. The two hidalgos and the negro remaining in that 
rancho, sufficed for the use of the natives, to bring back-loads of wood 
and water as slaves. After three or four days however, these like- 
wise were turned off, when for some time they wandered about lost, 
without hope of relief; and going naked among marshes, having been 
previously despoiled one night of their clothing, they came upon those 
dead. 

" They continued the route until they found some Indians, with 
whom Andres Dorantes remained. A cousin of his, one of the three 
who had gone on to the bay where they stopped, came over from the 
opposite shore, and told him that the swimmers who went from them 
had passed in that direction, having their clothes taken from them 
and they much bruised about the head with sticks because they would 
not remain; still though beaten and stripped, they had gone on for 
the sake of the oath they had taken, never to stop even if death stood 
in the path, before coming to a country of Christians. Dorantes 
states that he saw in the rancho where he was, the clothes belonging 
to the clergyman and to one of the swimmers, with a breviary or 
prayer book. Valdivieso returned, and a couple of days afterwards 
was killed, because he wished to flee, and likewise in a little time 
Diego de Huelva, because he forsook one lodge-house for another. 

" The Christians were there made slaves, forced with more cruelty 
to serve than the Moor would have used. Besides going stark naked 
and bare-footed over the coast burning in summer like fire, their 
continual occupation was bringing wood and water on the back, or 
whatever the Indians needed, and dragging canoes over inundated 
grounds in hot weather. 



TO SPANISH EXPLOEERS [1530 

" These natives eat nothing the year round but fish, and of that 
not much. They experience far less hunger however, than the in- 
habitants inland among whom the Spaniards afterwards lived. 
The food often fails, causing frequent removals, or otherwise they 
starve. . . . They have finger nails that for any ordinary purpose 
are knives, and are their principal arms among themselves. . . . 

"The Spaniards lived here fourteen months, from May to the 
May ensuing of the year 1530, and to the middle of the month of 
August, when Andres Dorantes, being at a point that appeared most 
favorable for going, commended himself to God, and went off at mid- 
day. . . . Castillo tarried among that hard people a year and a half 
later, until an opportunity presented for starting; but on arriving 
he found only the negro ; Dorantes, finding these Indians unbearably 
cruel, had gone back more than twenty leagues to a river near the 
bay of Espiritu Sancto, among those who had killed Esquivel, the 
solitary one that had escaped from the boats of the Governor and 
Alonzo Enrriques, slain, as they were told, because a woman had 
dreamed some absurdity. The people of this country have belief 
in dreams, their only superstition. On account of them they will 
even kill their children ; and this hidalgo Dorantes states, that in the 
course of four years he had been a witness to the killing or burying 
alive of eleven or twelve young males, and rarely do they let a girl 
live. . . . 

" Andres Dorantes passed ten months among this people, enduring 
much privation with continual labor, and in fear of being killed. ..." 



Chapter 19 
Our separation by the Indians. 

When the six months were over, I had to spend with the 
Christians to put in execution the plan we had concerted, the 
Indians went after prickly pears, the place at which they 
grew being thirty leagues off ; x and when we approached the 
point of flight, those among whom we were, quarrelled about 
a woman. After striking with fists, beating with sticks and 
bruising heads in great anger, each took his lodge and went 

1 In an article on the wanderings of Cabeza de Vaca, by Ponton and 
McFarland (Texas Historical Association Quarterly, I. 176, map, 1898), the 
northern limit of the cactus belt is placed on a line extending irregularly 
westward from the mouth of the Colorado River of Texas. 



1534] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 71 

his way, whence it became necessary that the Christians 
should also separate, and in no way could we come together 
until another year. 

In this time I passed a hard life, caused as much by hunger 
as ill usage. Three times I was obliged to run from my mas- 
ters, and each time they went in pursuit and endeavored to 
slay me ; but God our Lord in his mercy chose to protect and 
preserve me; and when the season of prickly pears returned, 
we again came together in the same place. After we had 
arranged our escape, and appointed a time, that very day the 
Indians separated and all went back. I told my comrades I 
would wait for them among the prickly-pear plants until the 
moon should be full. This day was the first of September, 1 
and the first of the moon ; and I said that if in this time they 
did not come as we had agreed, I would leave and go alone. 
So we parted, each going with his Indians. I remained with 
mine until the thirteenth day of the moon, having determined 
to flee to others when it should be full. 

At this time Andres Dorantes arrived with Estevanico 
and informed me that they had left Castillo with other Indians 
near by, called Lanegados ; 2 that they had encountered great 
obstacles and wandered about lost; that the next day the 
Indians, among whom we were, would move to where Castillo 
was, and were going to unite with those who held him and 
become friends, having been at war until then, and that in 
this way we should recover Castillo. 

1 1534. Cabeza de Vaca had evidently lost his reckoning (perhaps dur- 
ing his illness), as the date of the new moon in this year was September 8. 

2 Anagados in the 1542 edition. The tribe cannot be identified, although 
it may be well known under some other name. Anegado is Spanish for " over- 
flowed," "inundated," but it is by no means certain that the Spaniards ap- 
plied this name to them. Buckingham Smith suggests that they may have 
been the Nacadoch (Nacogdoches), but this does not seem probable, as the 
latter tribe lived very far to the northeast of the point where the Spaniards 
now were, that is, some thirty leagues inland from the coast between latitude 
28° and 29°. The name sounds more like Naddko, the designation which the 
Anadarcos give themselves. This Caddoan tribe, when first known, lived 
high up on the Brazos and the Trinity, but in 1812 their village was on the 
Sabine. They are now incorporated with the Caddo in Oklahoma. 



72 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1534 

We had thirst all the time we ate the pears, which we 
quenched with their juice. We caught it in a hole made in 
the earth, and when it was full we drank until satisfied. It 
is sweet, and the color of must. In this manner they collect 
it for lack of vessels. There are many kinds of prickly pears, 
among them some very good, although they all appeared to 
me to be so, hunger never having given me leisure to choose, 
nor to reflect upon which were the best. 

Nearly all these people drink rain-water, which lies about 
in spots. Although there are rivers, as the Indians never 
have fixed habitations, there are no familiar or known places 
for getting water. Throughout the country are extensive 
and beautiful plains with good pasturage; and I think it 
would be a very fruitful region were it worked and inhabited 
by civilized men. We nowhere saw mountains. 

These Indians told us that there was another people next 
in advance of us, called Camones, 1 living towards the coast, 
and that they had killed the people who came in the boat of 
Penalosa and Tellez, who arrived so feeble that even while 
being slain they could offer no resistance, and were all de- 
stroyed. We were shown their clothes and arms, and were 
told that the boat lay there stranded. This, the fifth boat, 
had remained till then unaccounted for. We have already 
stated how the boat of the Governor had been carried out to 
sea, and that of the comptroller and the friars had been cast 
away on the coast, of which Esquevel 2 narrated the fate of 
the men. We have once told how the two boats in which 
Castillo, I, and Dorantes came, foundered near the Island of 
Malhado. 

Chapter 20 

Of our escape. 

The second day after we had moved, we commended our- 
selves to God and set forth with speed, trusting, for all the 

1 Camoles in ch. 26. They evidently lived toward the northeast, 
north of Malhado Island; unidentified. 

2 Esquivel. 



1534] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 73 

lateness of the season and that the prickly pears were about 
ending, with the mast which remained in the woods [field], 
we might still be enabled to travel over a large territory. 
Hurrying on that day in great dread lest the Indians should 
overtake us, we saw some smokes, and going in the direction 
of them we arrived there after vespers, and found an Indian. 
He ran as he discovered us coming, not being willing to wait 
for us. We sent the negro * after him, when he stopped, seeing 
him alone. The negro told him we were seeking the people 
who made those fires. He answered that their houses were 
near by, and he would guide us to them. So we followed him. 
He ran to make known our approach, and at sunset we saw 
the houses. Before our arrival, at the distance of two cross- 
bow shots from them, we found four Indians, who waited for 
us and received us well. We said in the language of the 
Mariames, that we were coming to look for them. They were 
evidently pleased with our company, and took us to their 
dwellings. Dorantes and the negro were lodged in the house 
of a physician, 2 Castillo and myself in that of another. 

These people speak a different language, and are called 
Avavares. 3 They are the same that carried bows to those 
with whom we formerly lived, 4 going to traffic with them, and 
although they are of a different nation and tongue, they 
understand the other language. They arrived that day with 
their lodges, at the place where we found them. The com- 
munity directly brought us a great many prickly pears, having 
heard of us before, of our cures, and of the wonders our Lord 
worked by us, which, although there had been no others, were 
adequate to open ways for us through a country poor like 
this, to afford us people where oftentimes there are none, and 
to lead us through immediate dangers, not permitting us to 
be killed, sustaining us under great want, and putting into 

1 Estevanico. 

2 A shaman, or "medicine-man." 

3 Chavavares in ch. 26, in which it is said that they joined the Mariames. 
Their affinity is unknown. The statement that the Spaniards are again 
among these tribes suggests that they were now pursuing a northerly direction, 

4 The Mariames. See note to ch. 26, respecting these tribes. 



74 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1534 

those nations the heart of kindness, as we shall relate here- 
after. 

Chapter 21 

Our cure of some of the afflicted. 

That same night of our arrival, some Indians came to Cas- 
tillo and told him that they had great pain in the head, beg- 
ging him to cure them. After he made over them the sign of 
the cross, and commended them to God, they instantly said 
that all the pain had left, and went to their houses bringing 
us prickly pears, with a piece of venison, a thing to us little 
known. As the report of Castillo's performances spread, many 
came to us that night sick, that we should heal them, each 
bringing a piece of venison, until the quantity became so great 
we knew not where to dispose of it. We gave many thanks 
to God, for every day went on increasing his compassion and 
his gifts. After the sick were attended to, they began to dance 
and sing, making themselves festive, until sunrise; and be- 
cause of our arrival, the rejoicing was continued for three days. 

When these were ended, we asked the Indians about the 
country farther on, the people we should find in it, and of the 
subsistence there. They answered us, that throughout all the 
region prickly-pear plants abounded; but the fruit was now 
gathered and all the people had gone back to their houses. 
They said the country was very cold, and there were few skins. 
Reflecting on this, and that it was already winter, we resolved 
to pass the season with these Indians. 

Five days after our arrival, all the Indians went off, taking 
us with them to gather more prickly pears, where there were 
other peoples speaking different tongues. After walking five 
days in great hunger, since on the way was no manner of 
fruit, we came to a river 1 and put up our houses. We then 
went to seek the product of certain trees, which is like peas. 
As there are no paths in the country, I was detained some 

1 This may have been the San Antonio or the San Marcos-Guadalupe. 



1534] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 75 

time. The others returned, and coming to look for them in 
the dark I got lost. Thank God I found a burning tree, and 
in the warmth of it I passed the cold of that night. In the 
morning, loading myself with sticks, and taking two brands 
with me, I returned to seek them. In this manner I wandered 
five days, ever with my fire and load; for if the wood had 
failed me where none could be found, as many parts are with- 
out any, though I might have sought sticks elsewhere, there 
would have been no fire to kindle them. This was all the pro- 
tection I had against cold, while walking naked as I was born. 
Going to the low woods near the rivers, I prepared myself for 
the night, stopping in them before sunset. I made a hole in 
the ground and threw in fuel which the trees abundantly 
afforded, collected in good quantity from those that were 
fallen and dry. About the whole I made four fires, in the 
form of a cross, which I watched and made up from time to 
time. I also gathered some bundles of the coarse straw that 
there abounds, with which I covered myself in the hole. In 
this way I was sheltered at night from cold. On one occa- 
sion while I slept, the fire fell upon the straw, when it began 
to blaze so rapidly that notwithstanding the haste I made to 
get out of it, I carried some marks on my hair of the danger 
to which I was exposed. All this while I tasted not a mouth- 
ful, nor did I find anything I could eat. My feet were bare 
and bled a good deal. Through the mercy of God, the wind 
did not blow from the north in all this time, otherwise I should 
have died. 

At the end of the fifth day I arrived on the margin of a 
river, 1 where I found the Indians, who with the Christians, 
had considered me dead, supposing that I had been stung by 
a viper. All were rejoiced to see me, and most so were my 
companions. They said that up to that time they had strug- 
gled with great hunger, which was the cause of their not hav- 
ing sought me. At night, all gave me of their prickly pears, 
and the next morning we set out for a place where they were 

1 Presumably the river last mentioned, where they had erected their 

shelters. 



76 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1534 

in large quantity, with which we satisfied our great craving, 
the Christians rendering thanks to our Lord that He had ever 
given us His aid. 

Chapter 22 
The coming of other sick to us the next day. 

The next day morning, many Indians came, and brought 
five persons who had cramps and were very unwell. They 
came that Castillo might cure them. Each offered his bow 
and arrows, which Castillo received. At sunset he blessed 
them, commending them to God our Lord, and we all prayed 
to Him the best we could to send health; for that He knew 
there was no other means, than through Him, by which this 
people would aid us, so we could come forth from this un- 
happy existence. He bestowed it so mercifully, that, the 
morning having come, all got up well and sound, and were as 
strong as though they never had a disorder. It caused great 
admiration, and inclined us to render many thanks to God 
our Lord, whose goodness we now clearly beheld, giving us 
firm hopes that He would liberate and bring us to where we 
might serve Him. For myself I can say that I ever had 
trust in His providence that He would lead me out from that 
captivity, and thus I always spoke of it to my companions. 

The Indians having gone and taken their friends with 
them in health, we departed for a place at which others were 
eating prickly pears. These people are called Cuthalchuches * 
and Malicones, who speak different tongues. Adjoining them 
were others called Coayos and Susolas, who were on the oppo- 
site side, others called Atayos, 2 who were at war with the Su- 

1 Cultalchulches in ch. 26 (q. v.), and in the edition of 1542. 

2 These were possibly the Adai, or Adaize, although their country was 
in northeastern Texas, about Red River and the Sabine ; nevertheless they 
may have wandered very far during the prickly-pear season. There is evi- 
dence that in 1792, fourteen families of the Adai migrated to a region south 
of San Antonio de Bejar, where they were merged with the tribes living 
thereabout. The main body, although greatly reduced, did not leave their 



1534] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 77 

solas, exchanging arrow shots daily. As through all the coun- 
try they talked only of the wonders which God our Lord 
worked through us, persons came from many parts to seek 
us that we might cure them. At the end of the second day 
after our arrival, some of the Susolas came to us and besought 
Castillo that he would go to cure one wounded and others 
sick, and they said that among them was one very near his 
end. Castillo was a timid practitioner, most so in serious 
and dangerous cases, believing that his sins would weigh, and 
some day hinder him in performing cures. The Indians told 
me to go and heal them, as they liked me ; they remembered 
that I had ministered to them in the walnut grove when they 
gave us nuts and skins, which occurred when I first joined 
the Christians. So I had to go with them, and Dorantes ac- 
companied me with Estevanico. Coming near their huts, I 
perceived that the sick man we went to heal was dead. Many 
persons were around him weeping, and his house was prostrate, 
a sign that the one who dwelt in it is no more. 1 When I ar- 
rived I found his eyes rolled up, and the pulse gone, he hav- 
ing all the appearances of death, as they seemed to me and as 
Dorantes said. I removed a mat with which he was covered, 
and supplicated our Lord as fervently as I could, that He 
would be pleased to give health to him, and to the rest that 
might have need of it. After he had been blessed and breathed 
upon many times, they brought me his bow, and gave me a 
basket of pounded prickly pears. 

The natives took me to cure many others who were sick of 
a stupor, and presented me two more baskets of prickly pears, 
which I gave to the Indians who accompanied us. We then 
Went back to our lodgings. Those to whom we gave the fruit 
tarried, and returned at night to their houses, reporting that 

old home until the nineteenth century, when the remnant, who had been 
missionized, were incorporated with their kindred the Caddo. 

1 It is not uncommon for all the possessions of an Indian, including his 
dwelling, to be destroyed at the time of his death. In recent times this custom 
has had the tendency, as among the Navahos, for example, to cause them 
to adhere to their simple aboriginal form of dwellings instead of to go to the 
trouble of erecting substantial houses that might have to be demolished. 



78 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1535 

he who had been dead and for whom I wrought before them, 
had got up whole and walked, had eaten and spoken with them 
and that all to whom I had ministered were well and much 
pleased. This caused great wonder and fear, and throughout 
the land the people talked of nothing else. All to whom the 
fame of it reached, came to seek us that we should cure them 
and bless their children. 

When the Cuthalchuches, who were in company with our 
Indians, were about to return to their own country, they left 
us all the prickly pears they had, without keeping one : they 
gave us flints of very high value there, a palm and a half in 
length, with which they cut. They begged that we would 
remember them and pray to God that they might always be 
well, and we promised to do so. They left, the most satisfied 
beings in the world, having given us the best of all they had. 

We remained with the Avavares eight months, reckoned 
by the number of moons. In all this time people came to 
seek us from many parts, and they said that most truly we 
were children of the sun. Dorantes and the negro to this time 
had not attempted to practise ; but because of the great solici- 
tation made by those coming from different parts to find us, we 
all became physicians, although in being venturous and bold 
to attempt the performance of any cure, I was the most re- 
markable. No one whom we treated, but told us he was left 
well ; and so great was the confidence that they would become 
healed if we administered to them, they even believed that 
whilst we remained none of them could die. These and the 
rest of the people behind, related an extraordinary circum- 
stance, and by the way they counted, there appeared to be 
fifteen or sixteen years since it occurred. 

They said that a man wandered through the country whom 
they called Badthing ; he was small of body and wore beard, 
and they never distinctly saw his features. When he came 
to the house where they lived, their hair stood up and they 
trembled. Presently a blazing torch shone at the door, when 
he entered and seized whom he chose, and giving him three 
great gashes in the side with a very sharp flint, the width of 



1535] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 79 

the hand and two palms in length, he put his hand through 
them, drawing forth the entrails, from one of which he would 
cut off a portion more or less, the length of a palm, and throw 
it on the embers. Then he would give three gashes to an 
arm, the second cut on the inside of an elbow, and would sever 
the limb. A little after this, he would begin to unite it, and 
putting his hands on the wounds, these would instantly be- 
come healed. They said that frequently in the dance he ap- 
peared among them, sometimes in the dress of a woman, at 
others in that of a man; that when it pleased him he would 
take a buhio, 1 or house, and lifting it high, after a little he 
would come down with it in a heavy fall. They also stated 
that many times they offered him victuals, but that he never 
ate : they asked him whence he came and where was his abid- 
ing place, and he showed them a fissure in the earth and said 
that his house was there below. These things they told us of, 
we much laughed at and ridiculed; and they seeing our in- 
credulity, brought to us many of those they said he had seized ; 
and we saw the marks of the gashes made in the places accord- 
ing to the manner they had described. We told them he was 
an evil one, and in the best way we could, gave them to under- 
stand, that if they would believe in God our Lord, and become 
Christians like us, they need have no fear of him, nor would 
he dare to come and inflict those injuries, and they might be 
certain he would not venture to appear while we remained in 
the land. At this they were delighted and lost much of their 
dread. They told us that they had seen the Asturian and 
Figueroa with people farther along the coast, whom we had 
called those of the figs. 2 

They are all ignorant of time, either by the sun or moon, 
nor do they reckon by the month or year ; they better know 
and understand the differences of the seasons, when the fruits 
come to ripen, where the fish resort, 3 and the position of the 

1 See page 19, note 5. 2 See chap. 26. 

3 Buckingham Smith prefers this meaning for i en tiem-po que muere el 
Pescado to "by the time when the fish die," or "at times at which the fishes 
die." 



80 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1535 

stars, at which they are ready and practised. By these we 
were ever well treated. We dug our own food and brought 
our loads of wood and water. Their houses and also the things 
we ate, are like those of the nation from which we came, but 
they suffer far greater want, having neither maize, acorns, nor 
nuts. We always went naked like them, and covered our- 
selves at night with deer-skins. 

Of the eight months we were among this people, six we 
supported in great want, for fish are not to be found where 
they are. At the expiration of the time, the prickly pears 
began to ripen, 1 and I and the negro went, without these Ind- 
ians knowing it, to others farther on, a day's journey distant, 
called Maliacones. 2 At the end of three days, I sent him to 
bring Castillo and Dorantes, and they having arrived, we all 
set out with the Indians who were going to get the small fruit 
of certain trees on which they support themselves ten or 
twelve days whilst the prickly pears are maturing. They 
joined others called Arbadaos, 3 whom we found to be very 
weak, lank, and swollen, so much so as to cause us great as- 
tonishment. We told those with whom we came, that we 
wished to stop with these people, at which they showed regret 
and went back by the way they came ; so we remained in the 
field near the houses of the Indians, which when they ob- 
served, after talking among themselves they came up together, 
and each of them taking one of us by the hand, led us to their 
dwellings. Among them we underwent greater hunger than 
with the others ; we ate daily not more than two handfuls of 
the prickly pears, which were green and so milky they burned 
our mouths. As there was lack of water, those who ate suffered 
great thirst. In our extreme want we bought two dogs, giv- 

1 That is, until the summer of 1535. 

2 See ch. 27: "By the coast live those called Quitoks, and in front 
inward oh the main are the Chavavares, to whom adjoin the Maliacones, 
the Cultalchulches and others called Susolas and the Comos." This would 
seem to indicate that he was journeying in a generally northward or north- 
westward direction. 

3 The name suggests the Bidai, a Caddoan tribe that lived at a later 
period west of the Trinity, about latitude 31°, but this locality does not agree 
with the narrative. 



1535] NAKRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 81 

ing in exchange some nets, with other things, and a skin I 
used to cover myself. 

I have already stated that throughout all this country we 
went naked, and as we were unaccustomed to being so, twice 
a year we cast our skins like serpents. The sun and air pro- 
duced great sores on our breasts and shoulders, giving us 
sharp pain; and the large loads we had, being very heavy, 
caused the cords to cut into our arms. The country is so 
broken and thickset, that often after getting our wood in the 
forests, the blood flowed from us in many places, caused by 
the obstruction of thorns and shrubs that tore our flesh wher- 
ever we went. At times, when my turn came to get wood, 
after it had cost me much blood, I could not bring it out 
either on my back or by dragging. In these labors my 
only solace and relief were in thinking of the sufferings 
of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, and in the blood He shed 
for me, in considering how much greater must have been the 
torment He sustained from the thorns, than that I there 
received. 

I bartered with these Indians in combs that I made for 
them and in bows, arrows, and nets. We made mats, which 
are their houses, that they have great necessity for; and al- 
though they know how to make them, they wish to give their 
full time to getting food, since when otherwise employed they 
are pinched with hunger. Sometimes the Indians would set 
me to scraping and softening skins ; and the days of my great- 
est prosperity there, were those in which they gave me skins 
to dress. I would scrape them a very great deal and eat the 
scraps, which would sustain me two or three days. When it 
happened among these people, as it had likewise among others 
whom we left behind, that a piece of meat was given us, we 
ate it raw ; for if we had put it to roast, the first native that 
should come along would have taken it off and devoured it; 
and it appeared to us not well to expose it to this risk ; besides 
we were in such condition it would have given us pain to eat 
it roasted, and we could not have digested it so well as raw. 
Such was the life we spent there ; and the meagre subsistence 



82 SPANISH EXPLOKEBS [1535- 

we earned by the matters of traffic which were the work of 
our hands. 

Chapter 23 

Of our departure after having eaten the dogs. 

After eating the dogs, it seemed to us we had some strength 
to go forward ; and so commending ourselves to God our Lord, 
that He would guide us, we took our leave of the Indians. They 
showed us the way to others, near by, who spoke their language. 
While on our journey, rain fell, and we travelled the day in wet. 
We lost our way and went to stop in an extensive wood. 
We pulled many leaves of the prickly pear, which we put at 
night in an oven we made, and giving them much heat, by the 
morning they were in readiness. After eating, we put ourselves 
under the care of the Almighty and started. We discovered 
the way we had lost. Having passed the wood, we found other 
houses, and coming up to them, we saw two women with some 
boys walking in the forest, who were frightened at the sight of 
us and fled, running into the woods to call the men. These ar- 
riving, stopped behind trees to look at us. We called to them, 
and they came up with much timidity. After some conversa- 
tion they told us that food was very scarce with them ; that near 
by were many houses of their people to which they would guide 
us. We came at night where were fifty dwellings. The in- 
habitants Were astonished at our appearance, showing much 
fear. After becoming somewhat accustomed to us, they 
reached their hands to our faces and bodies, and passed them 
in like manner over their own. 

We stayed there that night, and in the morning the Indians 
brought us their sick, beseeching us that we would bless them. 
They gave us of what they had to eat, the leaves of the prickly 
pear and the green fruit roasted. As they did this with kind- 
ness and good will, and were happy to be without any- 
thing to eat, that they might have food to give us, we tarried 



1535] NABBATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 83 

some days. While there, others came from beyond, and when 
they were about to depart, we told our entertainers that we 
wished to go with those people. They felt much uneasiness 
at this, and pressed us warmly to stay : however, we took our 
leave in the midst of their weeping, for our departure weighed 
heavily upon them. 

Chapter 24 

Customs of the Indians of that country. 

From the Island of Malhado to this land, all the Indians 
whom we saw have the custom from the time in which their 
wives find themselves pregnant, of not sleeping with them until 
two years after they have given birth. The children are suckled 
until the age of twelve years, when they are old enough to get 
support for themselves. We asked why they reared them in 
this manner ; and they said because of the great poverty of the 
land, it happened many times, as we witnessed, that they were 
two or three days without eating, sometimes four, and conse- 
quently, in seasons of scarcity, the children were allowed to 
suckle, that they might not famish ; otherwise those who lived 
would be delicate, having little strength. 

If any one chance to fall sick in the desert, and cannot keep 
up with the rest, the Indians leave him to perish, unless it be 
a son or a brother; him they will assist, even to carrying on 
their back. It is common among them all to leave their wives 
when there is no conformity, and directly they connect them- 
selves with whom they please. This is the course of the men 
who are childless ; those who have children remain with their 
wives and never abandon them. When they dispute and quar- 
rel in their towns, they strike each other with the fists, fighting 
until exhausted, and then separate. Sometimes they are 
parted by the women going between them; the men never 
interfere. For no disaffection that arises do they resort to 
bows and arrows. After they have fought, or had out their 
dispute, they take their dwellings and go into the woods, living 



84 SPANISH EXPLOEERS [1535 

apart from each other until their heat has subsided. When no 
longer offended and then anger is gone, they return. From 
that time they are friends as if nothing had happened; nor is 
it necessary that any one should mend then friendships, as they 
in this way again unite them. If those that quarrel are single, 
they go to some neighboring people, and although these should 
be enemies, they receive them well and welcome them warmly, 
giving them so largely of what they have, that when their ani- 
mosity cools, and they return to their town, they go rich. 

They are all warlike, and have as much strategyfor protect- 
ing themselves against enemies as they could have were they 
reared in Italy in continual feuds. When they are in a part of 
the country where then enemies may attack them, they place 
then houses on the skirt of a wood, the thickest and most 
tangled they can find, and near it make a ditch in which the) 7 
sleep. The warriors are covered by small pieces of stick 
through which are loop-holes ; these hide them and present so 
false an appearance, that if come upon they are not discovered. 
They open a very narrow way, entering into the midst of the 
wood, where a spot is prepared on which the women and chil- 
dren sleep. When night comes they kindle fires in then lodges, 
that should spies be about, they may think to find them there ; 
and before daybreak they again light those fires. If the enemy 
comes to assault the houses, they who are in the ditch make a 
sally ; and from their trenches do much injury without those 
who are outside seeing or being able to find them. When there 
is no wood in which they can take shelter in this way, and make 
their ambuscades, they settle on open ground at a place they 
select, which they invest with trenches covered with broken 
sticks, having apertures whence to discharge arrows. These 
arrangements are made for night. 

While I was among the Aguenes, 1 their enemies coming sud- 
denly at midnight, fell upon them, killed three and wounded 
many, so that they ran from their houses to the fields before 
them. As soon as these ascertained that their assailants had 
withdrawn, they returned to pick up aU the arrows the others 

1 Elsewhere called Dosuenes. 



1535] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 85 

had shot, and following after them in the most stealthy manner 
possible, came that night to their dwellings without their pres- 
ence being suspected. At four o'clock in the morning the 
Aguenes attacked them, killed five, and wounded numerous 
others, and made them flee from their houses, leaving their 
bows with all they possessed. In a little while came the wives 
of the Quevenes 1 to them and formed a treaty whereby the 
parties became friends. The women, however, are some- 
times the cause of war. All these nations, when they have 
personal enmities, and are not of one family, assassinate at 
night, waylay, and inflict gross barbarities on each other. 



Chapter 25 
Vigilance of the Indians in war. 

They are the most watchful in danger of any people I ever 
knew. If they fear an enemy they are awake the night long, 
each with a bow at his side and a dozen arrows. He that would 
sleep tries his bow, and if it. is not strung, he gives the turn 
necessary to the cord. They often come out from their houses, 
bending to the ground in such manner that they cannot be 
seen, looking and watching on all sides to catch every object. 
If they perceive anything about, they are at once in the bushes 
with their bows and arrows, and there remain until day, run- 
ning from place to place where it is needful to be, or where they 
think their enemies are. When the light has come, they un- 
bend their bows until they go out to hunt. The strings are the 
sinews of deer. 

The method they have of fighting, is bending low to the 
earth, and whilst shot at they move about, speaking and leap- 
ing from one point to another, thus avoiding the shafts of their 
enemies. So effectual is their manoeuvring that they can re- 
ceive very little injury from crossbow or arquebus ; they rather 
scoff at them ; for these arms are of little value employed in 

1 Guevenes in the edition of 1542. 



86 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1535 

open field, where the Indians move nimbly about. They are 
proper for defiles and in water ; everywhere else the horse will 
best subdue, being what the natives universally dread. 1 Who- 
soever would fight them must be cautious to show no fear, 
or desire to have anything that is theirs ; while war exists they 
must be treated with the utmost rigor ; for if they discover any 
timidity or covetousness, they are a race that well discern the 
opportunities for vengeance, and gather strength from any 
weakness of their adversaries. When they use arrows in 
battle and exhaust their store, each returns his own way, with- 
out the one party following the other, although the one be 
many and the other few, such being their custom. Oftentimes 
the body of an Indian is traversed by the arrow ; yet unless the 
entrails or the heart be struck, he does not die but recovers 
from the wound. 

I believe these people see and hear better, and have 
keener senses than any other in the world. They are great in 
hunger, thirst, and cold, as if they were made for the endurance 
of these more than other men, by habit and nature. 

Thus much I have wished to say, beyond the gratification 
of that desire men have to learn the customs and manners of 
each other, that those who hereafter at some time find them- 
selves amongst these people, may have knowledge of their 
usages and artifices, the value of which they will not find 
inconsiderable in such event. 



Chapter 26 

Of the nations and tongues. 

I desire to enumerate the natives and tongues that exist from 
those of Malhado to the farthest Cuchendados there are. Two 
languages are found in the island ; the people of one are called 

1 Cabeza de Vaca is now evidently recalling the experience of Narvaez's 
men in Florida. 



1535] NARBATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 87 

Cahoques, 1 of the other, Han. On the tierra-firme, over against 
the island, is another people, called Chorruco, who take their 
names from the forests where they live. Advancing by the 
shores of the sea, others inhabit who are called the Doguenes, 
and opposite them others by the name of Mendica. Farther 
along the coast are the Quevenes, and in front of them on the 
main, the Mariames; and continuing by the coast are other 
called Guaycones ; and in front of them, within on the main, 
the Yguazes. At the close of these are the Atayos; and in 
their rear others, the Acubadaos, and beyond them are many 
in the same direction. By the coast live those called Quitoks, 
and in front inward on the main are the Chavavares, to whom 
adjoin the Maliacones, the Cultalchulches and others called 
Susolas, and the Comos ; and by the coast farther on are the 
Camoles ; and on the same coast in advance are those whom 
we called People of the Figs. 

They all differ in their habitations, towns and tongues. 
There is a language in which calling to a person, for " look here" 
they say "Arre aca," and to a dog "Xo." 2 Everywhere they 
produce stupefaction with a smoke, and for that they will give 
whatever they possess. They drink a tea made from leaves 
of a tree like those of the oak, which they toast in a pot ; and 
after these are parched, the vessel, still remaining on the fire, 
is filled with water. When the liquor has twice boiled, they 
pour it into a jar, and in cooling it use the half of a gourd. 
So soon as it is covered thickly with froth, it is drunk as warm 
as can be supported ; and from the time it is taken out of the 
pot until it is used they are crying aloud: "Who wishes to 

1 In the 1542 edition these tribal names are similarly spelled except in 
the case of Capoques, Charruco, Deguenes, Yeguaces, Decubadaos (for 
Acubadaos), Quitoles (for Quitoks), Chauauares, and Camolas. None of 
these Indians have thus far been conclusively identified with later historical 
tribes, with the possible exception of the Atayos and the Quevenes. See 
p. 76, note 2, and p. 59, note 1. 

2 In the 1542 edition, as given by Mrs. Bandelier, "Among them is a 
language wherein they call men mira aca, arraca, and dogs xo." Compare 
hdka, "sit down," in Karankawa (Gatschet, Karankawa Indians, Cambridge, 
Mass., 1891, p. 80). In the above it would appear as if the Spanish mira 
had been regarded as a part of the Indian exclamation. 



88 SPANISH EXPLOEERS [1535 

drink? 7 ' When the women hear these cries, they instantly 
stop, fearing to move; and although they may be heavily 
laden, they dare do nothing further. Should one of them move, 
they dishonor her, beating her with sticks, and greatly vexed, 
throw away the liquor they have prepared; while they who 
have drunk eject it, which they do readily and without pain. 
The reason they give for this usage is, that when they are about 
to drink, if the women move from where they hear the cry, 
something pernicious enters the body in that liquid, shortly 
producing death. At the time of boiling, the vessel must be 
covered; and if it should happen to be open when a woman 
passes, they use no more of that liquid, but throw it out. The 
color is yellow. They are three days taking it, eating nothing 
in the time, and daily each one drinks an arroba and a half. 1 
When the women have their indisposition, they seek food 
only for themselves, as no one else will eat of what they bring. 
In the time I was thus among these people, I witnessed a dia- 
bolical practice ; a man living with another, one of those who 
are emasculate and impotent. These go habited like women, 
and perform their duties, use the bow, and carry heavy loads. 
Among them we saw many mutilated in the way I describe. 
They are more muscular than other men, and taller : they bear 
very weighty burthens. 

Chapter 27 
We moved away and were well received. 

After parting with those we left weeping, 2 we went with the 
others to their houses and were hospitably received by the 

1 The tree from which the so-called "black drink" is made is Ilex cassine, 
and the custom of preparing and partaking of the liquid (known also as Caro- 
lina tea) was general among the tribes of the South, including the Gulf coast. 
The drink was known among the Catawbas as yaupon, among the Creeks as 
dssi-luputski, the latter signifying "small leaves," commonly abbreviated 
dssi, whence the name of the celebrated Seminole chief Osceola, i.e., "Black- 
drink Hallooer," or " Black-drink Singer." The partaking of the black drink 
was an important part of the puskita, or busk, ceremony among the Creeks. 

2 The Arbadaos or Acubadaos. See chs. 22, 23. 



1535] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 89 

people in them. They brought their children to us that we 
might touch their hands, and gave us a great quantity of the 
flour of mezquiquez. 1 The fruit while hanging on the tree, 
is very bitter and like unto the carob ; when eaten with earth 
it is sweet and wholesome. The method they have of prepar- 
ing it is this : they make a hole of requisite depth in the ground, 
and throwing in the fruit, pound it with a club the size of the 
leg, a fathom and a half in length, until it is well mashed. 
Besides the earth that comes from the hole, they bring and 
add some handfuls, then returning to beat it a little while 
longer. Afterward it is thrown into a jar, like a basket, upon 
which water is poured until it rises above and covers the 
mixture. He that beats it tastes it, and if it appears to him 
not sweet, he asks for earth to stir in, which is added 
until he finds it sweet. Then all sit round, and each put- 
ting in a hand, takes out as much as he can. The pits and 
hulls are thrown upon a skin, whence they are taken by him 
who does the pounding, and put into the jar whereon water 
is poured as at first, whence having expressed the froth and 
juice, again the pits and husks are thrown upon the skin. 
This they do three or four times to each pounding. Those 
present, for whom this is a great banquet, have their stomachs 
greatly distended by the earth and water they swallow. The 
Indians made a protracted festival of this sort on our account, 
and great areitos 2 during the time we remained. 

When we proposed to leave them, some women of another 
people came there who lived farther along. They informed 
us whereabout were their dwellings, and we set out for them, 
although the inhabitants entreated us to remain for that day, 
because the houses whither we were going were distant, there 
was no path to them, the women had come tired, and would 
the next day go with us refreshed and show us the way. Soon 
after we had taken our leave, some of the women, who had 
come on together from the same town, followed behind us. As 

1 The mesquite (Prosopis juliflora) . The beans are still extensively 
used as food by the Indians of southern Arizona and northern Mexico. 

2 See p. 52, note 3. 



90 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1535 

there are no paths in the country we presently got lost, and 
thus travelled four leagues, when, stopping to drink, we found 
the women in pursuit of us at the water, who told us of the great 
exertion they had made to overtake us. We went on taking 
them for guides, and passed over a river towards evening, the 
water reaching to the breast. It might be as wide as that 
at Seville; its current was very rapid. 1 

At sunset we reached a hundred Indian habitations. Be- 
fore we arrived, all the people who were in them came out to 
receive us, with such yells as were terrific, striking the palms 
of their hands violently against their thighs. They brought us 
gourds bored with holes and having pebbles in them, an instru- 
ment for the most important occasions, produced only at the 
dance or to effect cures, and which none dare touch but those 
who own them. They say there is virtue in them, and because 
they do not grow in that country, they come from heaven; 
nor do they know where they are to be found, only that the 
rivers bring them in their floods. 2 So great were the fear and 
distraction of these people, some to reach us sooner than others 
that they might touch us, they pressed us so closely that they 
lacked little of killing us ; and without letting us put our feet 
to the ground, carried us to their dwellings. We were so 
crowded upon by numbers, that we went into the houses they 
had made for us. On no account would we consent that they 
should rejoice over us any more that night. The night long 
they passed in singing and dancing among themselves; and 
the next day they brought us all the people of the town, that 
we should touch and bless them in the way we had done to 
others among whom we had been. After this performance 
they presented many arrows to some women of the other town 
who had accompanied theirs. 

The next day we left, and all the people of the place went 
with us ; and when we came to the other Indians we were as 

1 Probably the Colorado River. Buckingham Smith remarks that the 
Guadalquivir at Seville is about a hundred paces in width. 

2 The Pueblo Indians of New Mexico have cultivated gourds for use as rat- 
tles and receptacles, especially dippers, from time immemorial. If the Pecos 



1535] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 91 

well received as we had been by the last. They gave us of 
what they had to eat, and the deer they had killed that day. 
Among them we witnessed another custom, which is this: 
they who were with us took from him who came to be cured, 
his bow and arrows, shoes and beads if he wore any, and then 
brought him before us, that we should heal him. After being 
attended to, he would go away highly pleased, saying that he 
was well. So we parted from these Indians, and went to others 
by whom we were welcomed. They brought us their sick, 
which, we having blessed, they declared were sound; he who 
was healed, believed we could cure him; and with what the 
others to whom we had administered would relate, they made 
great rejoicing and dancing, so that they left us no sleep. 



Chapter 28 
Of another strange custom. 

Leaving these Indians, we went to the dwellings of numer- 
ous others. From this place began another novel custom, 
which is, that while the people received us very well, those who 
accompanied us began to use them so ill as to take their goods 
and ransack their houses, without leaving anything. To wit- 
ness this unjust procedure gave us great concern, inflicted too 
on those who received us hospitably; we feared also that it 
might provoke offence, and be the cause of some tumult be- 
tween them ; but, as we were in no condition to make it better, 
or to dare chastise such conduct, for the present we had to bear 
with it, until a time when we might have greater authority 
among them. They, also, who lost their effects, noticing 
our dejection, attempted to console us by saying that we should 
not be grieved on this account, as they were so gratified at 

were the stream, or one of the streams, whence the gourds were derived, they 
might have come from the pueblo of Pecos, southeast of the present Santa 
Fe ; if from the Rio Grande, they might have come from various villages 
along that river and its tributaries in the north. See p. 95, note 1. 



92 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1535 

having seen us ; they held their properties to be well bestowed, 
and that farther on they would be repaid by others who were 
very rich. 

On all the day's travel we received great inconvenience 
from the many persons following us. Had we .attempted to 
escape we could not have succeeded, such was their haste in 
pursuit, in order to touch us. So great was the importunity 
for this privilege, we consumed three hours in going through 
with them that they might depart. The next day all the in- 
habitants were brought before us. The greater part were 
clouded of an eye, and others in like manner were entirely 
blind, which caused in us great astonishment. They are a peo- 
ple of fine figure, agreeable features, and whiter than any of 
the many nations we had seen until then. 

Here we began to see mountains; they appeared to come 
in succession from the North Sea, and, according to the informa- 
tion the Indians gave us, we believe they rise fifteen leagues from 
the sea. 1 We set forth in a direction towards them with these 
Indians, and they guided us by the way of some kindred of 
theirs ; for they wished to take us only where were their rela- 
tions, and were not willing that their enemies should come to 
such great good, as they thought it was to see us. After we 
arrived they that went with us plundered the others; but as 
the people there knew the fashion, they had hidden some things 
before we came ; and having welcomed us with great festivity 
and rejoicing, they brought out and presented to us what they 
had concealed. These were beads, ochre, and some little bags 
of silver. 2 In pursuance of custom, we directly gave them to 

1 Probably the escarpment that extends from Austin to Eagle Pass. The 
Colorado (which was probably the wide, deep stream previously encountered) 
was crossed seemingly below the present Austin. It should be remembered 
that the information regarding the point at which the mountains commenced 
to rise was given by Indians whose language the Spaniards could not under- 
stand. At any rate, the fact that the latter believed the mountains to 
rise fifteen leagues from the sea would tend to indicate that the direction they 
had been following was a northerly one. See the statement in the following 
paragraph of the text. 

2 According to Oviedo (p. 617): "This is an error of the printer, and 
should read 'little bags of margarite [pearl-mica],' instead of silver." Buck- 



1535] NAKBATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 93 

the Indians who came with us, which, when they had received, 
they began their dances and festivities, sending to call others 
from a town near by, that they also might see us. 

In the afternoon they all came and brought us beads and 
bows, with trifles of other sort, which we also distributed. De- 
siring to leave the next day, the inhabitants all wished to take 
us to others, friends of theirs, who were at the point of the 
ridge, stating that many houses were there, and people who 
would give us various things. As it was out of our way, we 
did not wish to go to them, and took our course along the plain 
near the mountains, which we believed not to be distant from 
the coast * where the people are all evil disposed, and we con- 
sidered it preferable to travel inland ; 2 for those of the interior 
are of a better condition and treated us mildly, and we felt sure 
that we should find it more populous and better provisioned. 
Moreover, we chose this course because in traversing the coun- 
try we should learn many particulars of it, so that should God 
our Lord be pleased to take any of us thence, and lead us to the 
land of Christians, we might carry that information and news 
of it. As the Indians saw that we were determined not to go 
where they would take us, they said that in the direction we 
would go, there were no inhabitants, nor any prickly pears nor 
other thing to eat, and begged us to tarry there that day ; we 
accordingly did so. They directly sent two of their number 
to seek for people in the direction that we wished to go ; and 
the next day we left, taking with us several of the Indians. 
The women went carrying water, and so great was our authority 
that no one dared drink of it without our permission. 

Two leagues from there we met those who had gone out, 
and they said that they had found no one ; at which the Ind- 
ians seemed much disheartened, and began again to entreat 

ingham Smith translates Oviedo's margarita, " pearls/' and Cabeza de Vaca's 
margarita (ch. 29) as " marquesite." It may be added that magnetic iron 
ore of the highest quality occurs in Mason County, Texas. 

1 In the face of such an assertion it is difficult to conceive that the Span- 
iards had been journeying directly westward, away from the coast. 

2 That is, they decided to change their course from northward to a more 
westward direction. 



94 SPANISH EXPLOKEKS [1535 

us to go by way of the mountains. We did not wish to do so, 
and they, seeing our disposition, took their leave of us with 
much regret, and returned down the river to their houses, while 
we ascended along by it. After a little time we came upon two 
women with burthens, who put them down as they saw us, 
and brought to us, of what they carried. It was the flour of 
maize. They told us that farther up on that river we should 
find dwellings, a plenty of prickly pears and of that meal. 
We bade them farewell: they were going to those whom we 
had left. 

We walked until sunset, and arrived at a town of some 
twenty houses, where we were received with weeping and in 
great sorrow; for they already knew that wheresoever we 
should come, all would be pillaged and spoiled by those who 
accompanied us. When they saw that we were alone, they 
lost their fear, and gave us prickly pears with nothing more. 
We remained there that night, and at dawn, the Indians who 
had left us the day before, broke upon their houses. As they 
came upon the occupants unprepared and in supposed safety, 
having no place in which to conceal anything, all they possessed 
was taken from them, for which they wept much. In con- 
solation the plunderers told them that we were children of the 
sun and that we had power to heal the sick and to destroy; 
and other lies even greater than these, which none knew how 
to tell better than they when they find it convenient. They 
bade them conduct us with great respect, advised that they 
should be careful to offend us in nothing, give us all they might 
possess, and endeavor to take us where people were numerous ; 
and that wheresoever they arrived with us, they should rob 
and pillage the people of what they have, since this was cus- 
tomary. 

Chapter 29 

The Indians plunder each other. 

After the Indians had told and shown these natives well 
what to do, they left us together and went back. Remember- 



1535] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 95 

ing the instruction, they began to treat us with the same awe 
and reverence that the others had shown. We travelled with 
them three days, and they took us where were many inhabit- 
ants. Before we arrived, these were informed of our coming 
by the others, who told them respecting us all that the first 
had imparted, adding much more; for these people are all 
very fond of romance, and are great liars, particularly so where 
they have any interest. When we came near the houses all 
the inhabitants ran out with delight and great festivity to 
receive us. Among other things, two of their physicians 
gave us two gourds, and thenceforth we carried these with 
us, and added to our authority a token highly reverenced by 
Indians. 1 Those who accompanied us rifled the houses; but 
as these were many and the others few, they could not carry 
off what they took, and abandoned more than the half. 

From here we went along the base of the ridge, striking in- 
land more than fifty leagues, and at the close we found upwards 
of forty houses. Among the articles given us, Andres Dorantes 
received a hawk-bell of copper, thick and large, figured with a 
face, which the natives had shown, greatly prizing it. They 
told him that they had received it from others, their neigh- 
bors; we asked them whence the others had obtained it, and 
they said it had been brought from the northern direction, 
where there was much copper, which was highly esteemed. 
We concluded that whencesoever it came there was a foundry, 
and that work was done in hollow form. 2 

We departed the next day, and traversed a ridge seven 
leagues in extent. The stones on it are scoria of iron. 3 At 
night we arrived at many houses seated on the banks of a very 
beautiful river. 4 The owners of them came half way out on 

1 The possession of one of these "medicine" rattles was not improbably 
one of the causes of the death of Estevanico at the hands of the Zunis of 
Cibola in 1539. See the Introduction, and compare p. 90, note 2 ; p. 1 17, note 2. 

2 See p. 97, note 1. 

3 See pp. 92-93, note 2, regarding the occurrence of magnetic iron in Mason 
County, where it is found in great quantities, but is yet unworked. 

4 Perhaps the Llano, a branch of the Colorado, or possibly they had 
met the Colorado again. See p. 90, note 1. 



96 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1535 

the road to meet us, bringing their children on their backs. 
They gave us many little bags of margarite * and pulverized 
galena, 2 with which they rub the face. They presented us 
many beads, and blankets of cowhide, loading all who accom- 
panied us with some of every thing they had. They eat prickly 
pears and the seed of pine. In that country are small pine 
trees, 3 the cones like little eggs; but the seed is better than 
that of Castile, as its husk is very thin, and while green is 
beaten and made into balls, to be thus eaten. If the seed be 
dry, it is pounded in the husk, and consumed in the form of 
flour. 

Those who there received us, after they had touched us went 
running to their houses and directly returned, and did not stop 
running, going and coming, to bring us in this manner many 
things for support on the way. They fetched a man to me and 
stated that a long time since he had been wounded by an arrow 
in the right shoulder, and that the point of the shaft was lodged 
above his heart, which, he said, gave him much pain, and in 
consequence, he was always sick. Probing the wound I felt 
the arrow-head, and found it had passed through the cartilage. 
With a knife I carried, I opened the breast to the place, and 
saw the point was aslant and troublesome to take out. I 
continued to cut, and, putting in the point of the knife, at 
last with great difficulty I drew the head forth. It was very 
large. With the bone of a deer, and by virtue of my calling, 
I made two stitches that threw the blood over me, and with 
hair from a skin I stanched the flow. They asked me for the 
arrow-head after I had taken it out, which I gave, when the 
whole town came to look at it. They sent it into the back 
country that the people there might view it. In consequence 
of this operation they had many of their customary dances 

1 See p. 92, note 2. In the edition of 1542 the text here says silver. 

2 Lead is found in Texas in the trans- Pecos region. The mineral re- 
sources of the state have not yet been well exploited. 

3 Doubtless the nut pine (Pinus edulis) . Cabeza de Vaca evidently here 
aims to describe the character of this tree and its fruit without necessarily 
asserting that the tree was found growing very far east of the Pecos. In the 
valley of the latter stream it is more or less prolific. 



1535] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 97 

and festivities. The next day I cut the two stitches and the 
Indian was well. The wound I made appeared only like a seam 
in the palm of the hand. He said he felt no pain or sensitive- 
ness in it whatsoever. This cure gave us control throughout 
the country in all that the inhabitants had power, or deemed 
of any value, or cherished. We showed them the hawk-bell 
we brought, and they told us that in the place whence that had 
come, were buried many plates of the same material ; it was a 
thing they greatly esteemed, and where it came from were fixed 
habitations. 1 The country we considered to be on the South 
Sea, which we had ever understood to be richer than the one 
of the North. 

We left there, and travelled through so many sorts of people, 
of such diverse languages, the memory fails to recall them. 
They ever plundered each other, and those that lost, like those 
that gained, were fully content. 2 We drew so many followers 

1 The allusion is probably to Mexico rather than to a northern country, 
as previously asserted by the Indians. See the second preceding paragraph. 

2 Of this exchange of gifts, or perhaps we may call it plunder, there was 
an echo a few years later, when Coronado and his army were traversing the 
eastern part of the Staked Plain, under the guidance of the "Turk," in search 
of Quivira, in 1541. Before sending the army back, and while among the 
ravines of western Texas, Rodrigo Maldonado was sent forward to explore, 
and in four days reached a deep ravine in the bottom of which was a village 
that Cabeza de Vaca had visited, on which account (see p. 332) "they pre- 
sented Don Rodrigo with a pile of tanned skins and other things." An unfair 
distribution being threatened, the men rushed upon the skins and took pos- 
session without further ado. "The women and some others were left crying, 
because they thought that the strangers were not going to take anything, but 
would bless them as Cabeza de Vaca and Dorantes had done when they passed 
through here." Captain Jaramillo does not mention this occurrence in his 
narrative (Fourteenth Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, p. 588), but 
he speaks of reaching a settlement of Indians, in advance of that, according 
to the narrations, of which Castaneda speaks, " among whom there was an old 
blind man with a beard, who gave us to understand by signs which he made, 
that he had seen four others like us many days before, whom he had seen 
near there and rather more toward New Spain [Mexico], and we so understood 
him, and presumed that it was Dorantes and Cabeza de Vaca and those whom 
I have mentioned." Although we do not have here conclusive evidence that 
Cabeza de Vaca actually visited the village or villages mentioned, there is no 
question that he must have been in this vicinity, and as the evidence is strong 
that the Rio Colorado was the ravined stream alluded to, there is little likeli- 
hood that Cabeza de Vaca's route lay far below that river. 



98 SPANISH EXPLOEEES [1535 

that we had not use for their services. While on our way 
through these vales, every Indian carried a club three palms 
in length, and kept on the alert. On raising a hare, which 
animals are abundant, they surround it directly and throw 
numerous clubs at it with astonishing precision. Thus they 
cause it to run from one to another ; so that, according to my 
thinking, it is the most pleasing sport which can be imagined, 
as oftentimes the animal runs into the hand. So many did 
they give us that at night when we stopped we had eight or 
ten back-loads apiece. 1 Those having bows were not with us ', 
they dispersed about the ridge in pursuit of deer ; and at dark 
came bringing five or six for each of us, besides quail, and other 
game. Indeed, whatever they either killed or found, was put 
before us, without themselves daring to take anything until 
we had blessed it, though they should be expiring of hunger, 
they having so established the rule, since marching with us. 

The women carried many mats, of which the men made us 
houses, each of us having a separate one, with all his attendants. 
After these were put up, we ordered the deer and hares to be 
roasted, with the rest that had been taken. This was done by 
means of certain ovens made for the purpose. Of each we took 
a little and the remainder we gave to the principal personage 
of the people coming with us, directing him to divide it among 
the rest. Every one brought his portion to us, that we might 
breathe upon and give it our benediction; for not until then 
did they dare eat any of it. Frequently we were accompanied 
by three or four thousand persons, and as we had to breathe 
upon and sanctify the food and drink for each, and grant per- 
mission to do the many things they would come to ask, it may 
be seen how great was the annoyance. The women first brought 
us prickly pears, spiders, worms, and whatever else they could 
gather ; for even were they famishing, they would eat nothing 
unless we gave it them. 

In company with these, we crossed a great river coming 

1 The Pueblo Indians of New Mexico have similar communal rabbit- 
hunts, in which the animals are killed with a curved stick shaped somewhat 
like a boomerang. 



1535] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 99 

from the north/ and passing over some plains thirty leagues in 
extent, we found many persons coming a long distance to re- 
ceive us, who met us on the road over which we were to travel, 
and welcomed us in the manner of those we had left. 



Chapter 30 
The jashion of receiving us changes. 

From this place was another method of receiving us, as 
respects the pillage. Those who came out in the ways to bring 
us presents were not plundered ; but on our coming into their 
houses, themselves offered us all they had, as well as the houses. 
We gave the things to the chief personages who accompanied us, 
that they should divide them ; those who were despoiled always 
followed us until coming to a populous country, where they 
might repair their loss. They would tell those among whom 
We came, to retain everything and make no concealment, as 
nothing could be done without our knowledge, and we might 
cause them to die, as the sun revealed everything to us. So 
great was their fear that during the first days they were with us, 
they continually trembled, without daring even to speak, or 
raise their eyes to the heavens. They guided us through more 
than fifty leagues of desert, over rough mountains, which being 
dry were without game, and in consequence we suffered much 
from hunger. 2 

At the termination we forded a very large river, the water 

1 Evidently the Pecos. This is the first stream mentioned as flowing 
from the north. 

2 Eighty leagues would probably be a reasonable estimate of the distance 
from the Pecos to the Rio Grande, which the travellers had now reached. 
It would seem strange that no mention is made of the canon of the latter 
stream (which hereabouts flows through a territory four thousand feet above 
sea level) , were it not for the fact that they had become thoroughly inured 
to suffering and hard travelling; nevertheless, the terribly rough country 
through which they had just been guided from stream to stream is commented 
on, while the fact that the Rio Grande here "flows between some ridges" is 
mentioned farther on. 



100 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1535 

coming up to our breasts. From this place, many of the people 
began to sicken from the great privation and labor they had 
undergone in the passage of those ridges, which are sterile and 
difficult in the extreme. They conducted us to certain plains 
at the base of the mountains, where people came to meet us 
from a great distance, and received us as the last had done, and 
gave so many goods to those who came with us, that the half 
were left because they could not be carried. I told those who 
gave, to resume the goods that they might not lie there and be 
lost ; but they answered they could in no wise do so, as it was not 
their custom after they had bestowed a thing to take it back ; * 
so considering the articles no longer of value, they were left 
to perish. 

We told these people that we desired to go where the sun 
sets ; and they said inhabitants in that direction were remote. 
We commanded them to send and make known our coming; 
but they strove to excuse themselves the best they could, the 
people being their enemies, and they did not wish to go to 
them. Not daring to disobey, however, they sent two women, 
one of their own, the other a captive from that people ; for the 
women can negotiate even though there be war. We followed 
them, and stopped at a place where we agreed to wait. They 
tarried five days; and the Indians said they could not have 
found anybody. 

We told them to conduct us towards the north ; and they 
answered, as before, that except afar off there were no people 
in that direction, and nothing to eat, nor could water be found. 2 
Notwithstanding all this, we persisted, and said we desired to 
go in that course. They still tried to excuse themselves in the 
best manner possible. At this we became offended, and one 
night I went out to sleep in the woods apart from them ; but 
directly they came to where I was, and remained all night 
without sleep, talking to me in great fear, telling me how ter- 
rified they were, beseeching us to be no longer angry, and said 

1 An assertion quite contrary to the popular belief in "Indian gifts." 

2 The Indians were evidently endeavoring to compel the Spaniards to 
remain among them as long as possible. 



1535] NAKKATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 101 

that they would lead us in the direction it was our wish to go, 
though they knew they should die on the way. 

Whilst we still feigned to be displeased lest their fright 
should leave them, a remarkable circumstance happened, which 
was that on the same day many of the Indians became ill, 
and the next day eight men died. Abroad in the country, 
wheresoever this became known, there was such dread that 
it seemed as if the inhabitants would die of fear at sight of us. 
They besought us not to remain angered, nor require that 
more of them should die. They believed we caused their 
death by only willing it, when in truth it gave us so much pain 
that it could not be greater ; for, beyond their loss, we feared 
they might all die, or abandon us of fright, and that other 
people thenceforward would do the same, seeing what had 
come to these. We prayed to God, our Lord, to relieve them ; 
and from that time the sick began to get better. 

We witnessed one thing with great admiration, that the 
parents, brothers, and wives of those who died had great sym- 
pathy for them in their suffering ; but, when dead, they showed 
no feeling, neither did they weep nor speak among themselves, 
make any signs, nor dare approach the bodies until we com- 
manded these to be taken to burial. 

While we were among these people, which was more than 
fifteen days, we saw no one speak to another, nor did we see 
an infant smile: the only one that cried they took off to a 
distance, and with the sharp teeth of a rat they scratched it 
from the shoulders down nearly to the end of the legs. Seeing 
this cruelty, and offended at it, I asked why they did so : they 
said for chastisement, because the child had wept in my pres- 
ence. These terrors they imparted to all those who had lately 
come to know us, that they might give us whatever they 
had; for they knew we kept nothing, and would relinquish 
all to them. This people were the most obedient we had 
found in all the land, the best conditioned, and, in general, 
comely. 

The sick having recovered, and three days having passed 
since we came to the place, the women whom we sent away 



102 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1535 

returned, and said they had found very few people ; nearly all 
had gone for cattle, being then in the season. We ordered 
the convalescent to remain and the well to go with us, and 
that at the end of two days 7 journey those women should go 
with two of our number to fetch up the people, and bring them 
on the road to receive us. Consequently, the next morning 
the most robust started with us. At the end of three days' 
travel we stopped, and the next day Alonzo del Castillo set out 
with Estevanico the negro, taking the two women as guides. 
She that was the captive led them to the river which ran between 
some ridges, 1 where was a town at which her father lived ; and 
these habitations were the first seen, having the appearance 
and structure of houses. 2 

Here Castillo and Estevanico arrived, and, after talking 
with the Indians, Castillo returned at the end of three days to 
the spot where he had left us, and brought five or six of the 
people. He told us he had found fixed dwellings of civilization, 
that the inhabitants lived on beans and pumpkins, 3 and that he 
had seen maize. This news the most of anything delighted us, 
and for it we gave infinite thanks to our Lord. Castillo told us 
the negro was coming with all the population to wait for us in 
the road not far off. Accordingly we left, and, having travelled 
a league and a half, we met the negro and the people coming to 

1 The river was the Rio Grande, to which they had now returned. The 
description of the topography is in accordance with the facts. 

2 The substantial character of the houses was noted also by Antonio de 
Espejo, toward the close of 1582, on his journey northward to New Mexico. 
Espejo speaks of these Indians, the Jumanos, or Patarabueyes, as occupying 
five villages from about the junction of the Conchos northward up the Rio 
Grande for twelve days' journey, and as numbering ten thousand souls — 
but Espejo's estimates of population are always greatly exaggerated. More 
important is his statement that the Jumanos knew something of Christianity 
which they had gleaned years before from three Christians and a negro, 
whom he naturally believed to have been "Alvaro Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, 
y Dorantes, y Castillo Maldonado, y un negro," who had made their escape 
from Narvaez's fleet. This is one of the few definite points of the narrative 
that can be established without question. See Coleccion de Documentos 
Ineditos relativos . . . de America y Oceania, XV. 107 (1871). 

3 Melones in the edition of 1542. Bandelier has no doubt that a species 
of squash is meant. 



1535] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 103 

receive us. They gave us beans, many pumpkins, calabashes/ 
blankets of cowhide and other things. As this people and 
those who came with us were enemies, 2 and spoke not each 
other's language, we discharged the latter, giving them what we 
received, and we departed with the others. Six leagues from 
there, as the night set in we arrived at the houses, where great 
festivities were made over us. We remained one day, and the 
next set out with these Indians. They took us to the settled 
habitations of others, 3 who lived upon the same food. 

From that place onward was another usage. Those who 
knew of our approach did not come out to receive us on the 
road as the others had done, but we found them in their houses, 
and they had made others for our reception. They were all 
seated with their faces turned to the wall, their heads down, the 
hair brought before their eyes, and their property placed in a 
heap in the middle of the house. From this place they began 
to give us many blankets of skin ; and they had nothing they 
did not bestow. They have the finest persons of any people 
we saw, of the greatest activity and strength, who best under- 
stood us and intelligently answered our inquiries. We called 
them the Cow nation, because most of the cattle killed are 
slaughtered in their neighborhood, and along up that river for 
over fifty leagues they destroy great numbers. 4 

They go entirely naked after the manner of the first we saw. 
The women are dressed with deer-skin, and some few men, 

1 . . . " beans and many squashes to eat, gourds to carry water in " 
(ed. of 1542, Bandelier translation). 

2 That is, the Jumanos and probably the Tobosos respectively. The 
captive woman evidently belonged to the latter tribe. 

3 Apparently other settlements of the Jumanos, as mentioned in the 
above note. The Spaniards were now going up the Rio Grande. 

4 Although they resided in permanent habitations at this time, the 
Jumanos lived east of the Rio Grande, in New Mexico, a century later and 
practised the habits of the buffalo-hunting plains tribes rather than those of 
sedentary Indians. The "neighborhood" was evidently not the immediate 
vicinity, and the stream alluded to seems much more likely to have been the 
Pecos than the Rio Grande, the former having been named Rio de las Vacas 
by Espejo in 1583. On this point see the opening paragraph of the following 
chapter. 



104 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1535 

mostly the aged, who are incapable of fighting. The country- 
is very populous. We asked how it was they did not plant 
maize. They answered it was that they might not lose what 
they should put in the ground ; that the rains had failed for two 
years in succession, and the seasons were so dry the seed had 
everywhere been taken by the moles, and they could not ven- 
ture to plant again until after water had fallen copiously. They 
begged us to tell the sky to rain, and to pray for it, and we said 
we would do so. We also desired to know whence they got the 
maize, and they told us from where the sun goes down ; there it 
grew throughout the region, and the nearest was by that path. 
Since they did not wish to go thither, we asked by what direc- 
tion we might best proceed, and bade them inform us concerning 
the way ; they said the path was along up by that river towards 
the north, for otherwise in a journey of seventeen days we 
should find nothing to eat, except a fruit they call chacan, that 
is ground between stones, and even then it could with difficulty 
be eaten for its dryness and pungency, — which was true. 
They showed it to us there, and we could not eat it. They in- 
formed us also that, whilst we travelled by the river upward, we 
should all the way pass through a people that were their ene- 
mies, who spoke their tongue, and, though they had nothing to 
give us to eat, they would receive us with the best good will, 
and present us with mantles of cotton, hides, and other articles 
of their wealth. 1 Still it appeared to them we ought by no 
means to take that course. 

Doubting what it would be best to do, and which way we 
should choose for suitableness and support, we remained two 
days with these Indians, who gave us beans and pumpkins for 
our subsistence. Their method of cooking is so new that for 
its strangeness I desire to speak of it ; thus it may be seen and 
remarked how curious and diversified are the contrivances and 

1 The Pueblo Indians of New Mexico are here referred to. Later Spanish 
explorers found cotton garments in abundance in their country. The state- 
ment here that the Jumanos spoke the same tongue as some of the Pueblos 
is significant, and accounts in a measure for the affiliation of the Jumanos 
with the Piros when missions were established by the Franciscans among these 
two tribes east of the Rio Grande, in New Mexico, in 1629. 



1535] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 105 

ingenuity of the human family. Not having discovered the use 
of pipkins, to boil what they would eat, they fill the half of a 
large calabash with water, and throw on the fire many stones 
of such as are most convenient and readily take the heat. 
When hot, they are taken up with tongs of sticks and dropped 
into the calabash until the water in it boils from the fervor of 
the stones. Then whatever is to be cooked is put in, and until 
it is done they continue taking out cooled stones and throwing 
in hot ones. Thus they boil their food. 1 



Chapter 31 
Of our taking the way to the maize. 

Two days being spent while we tarried, we resolved to go in 
search of the maize. We did not wish to follow the path lead- 
ing to where the cattle are, because it is towards the north, and 
for us very circuitous, since we ever held it certain that going 
towards the sunset we must find what we desired. 

Thus we took our way, and traversed all the country until 
coming out at the South Sea. Nor was the dread we had of 
the sharp hunger through which we should have to pass (as in 
verity we did, throughout the seventeen days' journey of which 
the natives spoke) sufficient to hinder us. During all that time, 
in ascending by the river, they gave us many coverings of cow- 
hide; but we did not eat of the fruit. Our sustenance each 
day was about a handful of deer-suet, which we had a long 
time been used to saving for such trials. Thus we passed the 
entire journey of seventeen days, and at the close we crossed 
the river 2 and travelled other seventeen days. 

As the sun went down, upon some plains that lie between 

1 This was not an uncommon practice, especially among the non-sedentary 
tribes who could not readily transport pottery from place to place. The 
name Assiniboin, meaning "stone Sioux/' abbreviated to "Stonies," is de- 
rived from this custom. Tightly woven baskets and wooden bowls were 
also used for the purpose. 

2 Probably the Rio Santa Maria, in Chihuahua. 



106 SPANISH EXPLOBERS [1535 

chains of very great mountains/ we found a people who for the 
third part of the year eat nothing but the powder of straw, and, 
that being the season when we passed, we also had to eat of it, 
until reaching permanent habitations, where was abundance of 
maize brought together. 2 They gave us a large quantity in 
grain and flour, pumpkins, beans, and shawls of cotton. With 
all these we loaded our guides, who went back the happiest 
creatures on earth. We gave thanks to God, our Lord, for 
having brought us where we had found so much food. 

Some houses are of earth, the rest all of cane mats. From 
this point we marched through more than a hundred leagues of 
country, and continually found settled domicils, with plenty of 
maize and beans. The people gave us many deer and cotton 
shawls better than those of New Spain, many beads and certain 
corals found on the South Sea, and fine turquoises that come 
from the north. Indeed they gave us every thing they had. 
To me they gave five emeralds 3 made into arrow-heads, which 
they use at their singing and dancing. They appeared to be 
very precious. I asked whence they got these ; and they said 
the stones were brought from some lofty mountains that stand 
toward the north, where were populous towns and very large 
houses, and that they were purchased with plumes and the 
feathers of parrots. 

Among this people the women are treated with more deco- 
rum than in any part of the Indias we had visited. They wear 
a shirt of cotton that falls as low as the knee, and over it half 
sleeves with skirts reaching to the ground, made of dressed 
deer-skin. 4 It opens in front and is brought close with straps 
of leather. They soap this with a certain root 5 that cleanses 
well, by which they are enabled to keep it becomingly. Shoes 
are worn. The people all came to us that we should touch and 
bless them, they being very urgent, which we could accomplish 

1 The Sierra Madre. 

2 The numerous villages of the Opata and cognate tribes of Sonora. 

3 Bandelier (p. 156) believes that there may have been malachites. 

4 For the clothing of the Opata Indians, see Castaneda's narration in 
this volume. 

5 Amole, the root of the yucca. 



1535] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 107 

only with great labor, for sick and well all wished to go with a 
benediction. Many times it occurred that some of the women 
who accompanied us gave birth; and so soon as the children 
Were born the mothers would bring them to us that we should 
touch and bless them. 

These Indians ever accompanied us until they delivered us 
to others; and all held full faith in our coming from heaven. 
While travelling, we went without food all day until night, and 
we ate so little as to astonish them. We never felt exhaustion, 
neither were we in fact at all weary, so inured were we to hard- 
ship. We possessed great influence and authority : to preserve 
both, we seldom talked with them. The negro was in constant 
conversation ; he informed himself about the ways we wished 
to take, of the towns there were, and the matters we desired to 
know. 

We passed through many and dissimilar tongues. Our 
Lord granted us favor with the people who spoke them, for they 
always understood us, and we them. We questioned them, 
and received their answers by signs, just as if they spoke our 
language and we theirs ; for, although we knew six languages, 
We could not everywhere avail ourselves of them, there being a 
thousand differences. 

Throughout all these countries the people who were at war 
immediately made friends, that they might come to meet us, 
and bring what they possessed. In this way we left all the land 
at peace, and we taught all the inhabitants by signs, which they 
understood, that in heaven was a Man we called God, who had 
created the sky and the earth ; Him we worshipped and had for 
our master; that we did what He commanded and from His 
hand came all good ; and would they do as we did, all would be 
well with them. So ready of apprehension we found them 
that, could we have had the use of language by which to make 
ourselves perfectly understood, we should have left them all 
Christians. Thus much we gave them to understand the best 
we could. And afterward, when the sun rose, they opened 
their hands together with loud shouting towards the heavens, 
and then drew them down all over their bodies. They did the 



108 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1535 

same again when the sun went down. They are a people of 
good condition and substance, capable in any pursuit. 



Chapter 32 
The Indians give us the hearts of deer. 

In the town where the emeralds were presented to us the 
people gave Dorantes over six hundred open hearts of deer. 
They ever keep a good supply of them for food, and we called 
the place Pueblo de los Corazones. 1 It is the entrance into 
many provinces on the South Sea. They who go to look for 
them, and do not enter there, will be lost. On the coast is no 
maize: the inhabitants eat the powder of rush and of straw, 
and fish that is caught in the sea from rafts, not having canoes. 
With grass and straw the women cover their nudity. They are 
a timid and dejected people. 2 

We think that near the coast by way of those towns through 
which we came are more than a thousand leagues of inhabited 
country, plentiful of subsistence. Three times the year it is 
planted with maize and beans. Deer are of three kinds ; one 
the size of the young steer of Spain. There are innumerable 
houses, such as are called bahios. 3 They have poison from a 
certain tree the size of the apple. For effect no more is neces- 
sary than to pluck the fruit and moisten the arrow with it, or, if 
there be no fruit, to break a twig and with the milk do the like. 
The tree is abundant and so deadly that, if the leaves be bruised 
and steeped in some neighboring water, the deer and other 
animals drinking it soon burst. 4 

1 Town of the Hearts, at or near the present Ures, on the Rio Sonora. 
The place became celebrated in 1540, when Coronado's army passed 
through the country. See the Castaneda narration in this volume. 

2 These were the Seri, Guaymas, Upanguaymas, and Tepoca tribes. 
The Seri particularly have ever been noted for their warlike character, but 
Cabeza de Vaca does not here speak from personal knowledge. 

3 That is, in the West Indies, see p. 19, note 5. 

4 See the Castaneda narration, p. 326, post; and compare the Rudo Ensayo 
(ca. 1763), p. 64, 1863, which says: "Mago, in the Opata language, is a 



1535] NAKRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 109 

We were in this town three days. A day's journey * farther 
was another town, 2 at which the rain fell heavily while we were 
there, and the river became so swollen we could not cross it, 
which detained us fifteen days. In this time Castillo saw the 
buckle of a sword-belt on the neck of an Indian and stitched 
to it the nail of a horseshoe. He took them, and we asked the 
native what they were: he answered that they came from 
heaven. We questioned him further, as to who had brought 
them thence : they all responded that certain men who wore 
beards like us had come from heaven and arrived at that river, 
bringing horses, lances, and swords, and that they had lanced 
two Indians. In a manner of the utmost indifference we could 
feign, we asked them what had become of those men. They 
answered us that they had gone to sea, putting their lances 
beneath the water, and going themselves also under the water ; 
afterwards that they were seen on the surface going towards the 
sunset. For this we gave many thanks to God our Lord. We 
had before despaired of ever hearing more of Christians. Even 
yet we were left in great doubt and anxiety, thinking those peo- 
ple were merely persons who had come by sea on discoveries. 
However, as we had now such exact information, we made 
greater speed, and, as we advanced on our way, the news of the 
Christians continually grew. We told the natives that we were 
going in search of that people, to order them not to kill nor 
make slaves of them, nor take them from their lands, nor do 
other injustice. Of this the Indians were very glad. 

We passed through many territories and found them all va- 
cant : their inhabitants wandered fleeing among the mountains, 
without daring to have houses or till the earth for fear of Chris- 
tians. The sight was one of infinite pain to us, a land very 

small tree, very green, luxuriant, and beautiful to the eye ; but it contains 
a deadly juice which flows upon making a slight incision in the bark. The 
natives rub their arrows with it, and for this reason they call it arrow herb ; 
but at present they use very little." 

1 Twelve leagues, and the same distance from the Gulf of California, 
according to the last paragraph of this chapter. 

2 Perhaps at or in the vicinity of the present Hermosillo, Sonora, 
although the distance is greater than that given later. 



110 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1535 

fertile and beautiful, abounding in springs and streams, the 
hamlets deserted and burned, the people thin and weak, all 
fleeing or in concealment. As they did not plant, they ap- 
peased their keen hunger by eating roots and the bark of trees. 
We bore a share in the famine along the whole way ; for poorly 
could these unfortunates provide for us, themselves being so 
reduced they looked as though they would willingly die. They 
brought shawls of those they had concealed because of the 
Christians, presenting them to us; and they related how the 
Christians at other times had come through the land, destroying 
and burning the towns, carrying away half the men, and all the 
women and the boys, while those who had been able to escape 
were wandering about fugitives. We found them so alarmed 
they dared not remain anywhere. They would not nor could 
they till the earth, but preferred to die rather than live in dread 
of such cruel usage as they received. Although these showed 
themselves greatly delighted with us, we feared that on our ar- 
rival among those who held the frontier, and fought against the 
Christians, they would treat us badly, and revenge upon us the 
conduct of their enemies ; but, when God our Lord was pleased 
to bring us there, they began to dread and respect us as the 
others had done, and even somewhat more, at which we no little 
wondered. Thence it may at once be seen that, to bring all 
these people to be Christians and to the obedience of the Im- 
perial Majesty, they must be won by kindness, which is a way 
certain, and no other is. 

They took us to a town on the edge of a range of mountains, 
to which the ascent is over difficult crags. We found many 
people there collected out of fear of the Christians. They re- 
ceived us well, and presented us all they had. They gave us 
more than two thousand back-loads of maize, which we gave to 
the distressed and hungered beings who guided us to that place. 
The next day we despatched four messengers through the coun- 
try, as we were accustomed to do, that they should call together 
all the rest of the Indians at a town distant three days' 
march. We set out the day after with all the people. The 
tracks of the Christians and marks where they slept were con- 



1535] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 111 

tinually seen. At mid-day we met our messengers, who told 
us they had found no Indians, that they were roving and hid- 
ing in the forests, fleeing that the Christians might not kill 
nor make them slaves ; the night before they had observed the 
Christians from behind trees, and discovered what they were 
about, carrying away many people in chains. 

Those who came with us were alarmed at this intelligence ' t 
some returned to spread the news over the land that the Chris- 
tians were coming ; and many more would have followed, had 
we not forbidden it and told them to cast aside their fear, when 
they reassured themselves and were well content. At the time 
we had Indians with us belonging a hundred leagues behind, 
and we were in no condition to discharge them, that they might 
return to their homes. To encourage them, we stayed there 
that night ; the day after we marched and slept on the road. 
The following day those whom we had sent forward as messen- 
gers guided us to the place where they had seen Christians. 
We arrived in the afternoon, and saw at once that they told the 
truth. We perceived that the persons were mounted, by the 
stakes to which the horses had been tied. 

From this spot, called the river Petutan, 1 to the river to 
which Diego de Guzman came, 2 where we heard of Christians, 
may be as many as eighty leagues ; thence to the town where 
the rains overtook us, twelve leagues, and that is twelve leagues 
from the South Sea. 3 Throughout this region, wheresoever the 
mountains extend, we saw clear traces of gold and lead, iron, 
copper, and other metals. Where the settled habitations are, 
the climate is hot ; even in January the weather is very warm. 
Thence toward the meridian, the country unoccupied to the 
North Sea is unhappy and sterile. There we underwent great 

1 Petatlan ; so also in the edition of 1542. This is the Rio Sinaloa. See 
Castaneda's narration of the Coronado expedition, part 2, ch. 2, post. 

2 See the note on Guzman in the Castaneda relation. The narrative 
is here slightly confused, as the town at which they first heard of Christians 
was the one in which they were overtaken by the rain, according to Cabeza 
de Vaca's previous statement in this chapter. 

3 The Gulf of California. As he did not go to the coast, however, his 
estimate is considerably below the actual distance. 



112 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1536 

and incredible hunger. Those who inhabit and wander over it 
are a race of evil inclination and most cruel customs. The 
people of the fixed residences 1 and those beyond regard silver 
and gold with indifference, nor can they conceive of any use 
for them. 

Chapter 33 

We see traces of Christians. 

When we saw sure signs of Christians, and heard how near 
we were to them, we gave thanks to God our Lord for having 
chosen to bring us out of a captivity so melancholy and wretched. 
The delight we felt let each one conjecture, when he shall re- 
member the length of time we were in that country, the suffering 
and perils we underwent. That night I entreated my com- 
panions that one of them should go back three days' journey 
after the Christians who were moving about over the country, 
where we had given assurance of protection. Neither of them 
received this proposal well, excusing themselves because of 
weariness and exhaustion; and although either might have 
done better than I, being more youthful and athletic, yet seeing 
their unwillingness, the next morning I took the negro with 
eleven Indians, and, following the Christians by their trail, 
I travelled ten leagues, passing three villages, at which they 
had slept. 

The day after I overtook four of them on horseback, who 
were astonished at the sight of me, so strangely habited as I 
was, and in company with Indians. 2 They stood staring at me 
a length of time, so confounded that they neither hailed me nor 
drew near to make an inquiry. I bade them take me to their 
chief : accordingly we went together half a league to the place 
where was Diego de Alcaraz, their captain. 3 

1 The Jumanos, previously mentioned. 

2 There were twenty horsemen according to the Letter (Oviedo, p. 612). 

3 Alcaraz later served as a lieutenant under Diaz in the Coronado ex- 
pedition. Castaneda characterizes him as a weakling. 



1536] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 113 

After we had conversed, he stated to me that he was com- 
pletely undone ; he had not been able in a long time to take 
any Indians ; he knew not which way to turn, and his men had 
well begun to experience hunger and fatigue. I told him of 
Castillo and Dorantes, who were behind, ten leagues off, with a 
multitude that conducted us. He thereupon sent three cavalry 
to them, with fifty of the Indians who accompanied him. The 
negro returned to guide them, while I remained. I asked the 
Christians to give me a certificate of the year, month, and day 
I arrived there, and of the manner of my coming, which they 
accordingly did. From this river 1 to the town of the Christians, 
named San Miguel, 2 within the government of the province 
called New Galicia, are thirty leagues. 



Chapter 34 

Of sending for the Christians. 

Five days having elapsed, Andres Dorantes and Alonzo del 
Castillo arrived with those who had been sent after them. 
They brought more than six hundred persons of that com- 
munity, whom the Christians had driven into the forests, and 
who had wandered in concealment over the land. Those who 
accompanied us so far had drawn them out, and given them to 
the Christians, who thereupon dismissed all the others they had 
brought with them. Upon their coming to where I was, Alcaraz 
begged that we would summon the people of the towns on the 
margin of the river, who straggled about under cover of the 
woods, and order them to fetch us something to eat. This last 
was unnecessary, the Indians being ever diligent to bring us all 
they could. Directly we sent our messengers to call them, 
when there came six hundred souls, bringing us all the maize in 
their possession. They fetched it in certain pots, closed with 

1 Evidently the Rio Sinaloa. 

2 San Miguel Culiacan. See Castaneda's narration. 



114 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1536 

clay, which they had concealed in the earth. They brought 
us whatever else they had ; but we, wishing only to have the 
provision, gave the rest to the Christians, that they might 
divide among themselves. After this we had many high words 
with them ; for they wished to make slaves of the Indians we 
brought. 

In consequence of the dispute, we left at our departure many 
bows of Turkish shape we had along with us and many pouches. 
The five arrows with the points of emerald were forgotten 
among others, and we lost them. We gave the Christians a 
store of robes of cowhide and other things we brought. We 
found it difficult to induce the Indians to return to their dwell- 
ings, to feel no apprehension and plant maize. They were will- 
ing to do nothing until they had gone with us and delivered us 
into the hands of other Indians, as had been the custom ; for, 
if they returned without doing so, they were afraid they should 
die, and, going with us, they feared neither Christians nor lances. 
Our countrymen became jealous at this, and caused their inter- 
preter to tell the Indians that we were of them, and for a long 
time we had been lost ; that they were the lords of the land 
who must be obeyed and served, while we were persons of mean 
condition and small force. The Indians cared little or nothing 
for what was told them ; and conversing among themselves said 
the Christians lied: that we had come whence the sun rises, 
and they whence it goes down ; we healed the sick, they killed 
the sound ; that we had come naked and barefooted, while they 
had arrived in clothing and on horses with lances ; that we were 
not covetous of anything, but all that was given to us we di- 
rectly turned to give, remaining with nothing ; that the others 
had the only purpose to rob whomsoever they found, bestow- 
ing nothing on any one. 

In this way they spoke of all matters respecting us, which 
they enhanced by contrast with matters concerning the others, 
delivering their response through the interpreter of the Span- 
iards. To other Indians they made this known by means of 
one among them through whom they understood us. Those 
who speak that tongue we discriminately call Primahaitu, 



1536] NABRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 115 

which is like saying Vasconyados. 1 We found it in use over 
more than four hundred leagues of our travel, without another 
over that whole extent. Even to the last, I could not convince 
the Indians that we were of the Christians ; and only with great 
effort and solicitation we got them to go back to their residences. 
We ordered them to put away apprehension, establish their 
towns, plant and cultivate the soil. 

From abandonment the country had already grown up 
thickly in trees. It is, no doubt, the best in all these Indias, 
the most prolific and plenteous in provisions. Three times in 
the year it is planted. It produces great variety of fruit, has 
beautiful rivers, with many other good waters. There are ores 
with clear traces of gold and silver. The people are well dis- 
posed : they serve such Christians as are their friends, with 
great good will. They are comely, much more so than the 
Mexicans. Indeed, the land needs no circumstance to make it 
blessed. 

The Indians, at taking their leave, told us they would do 
what we commanded, and would build their towns, if the Chris- 
tians would suffer them ; and this I say and affirm most posi- 
tively, that, if they have not done so, it is the fault of the 
Christians. 

After we had dismissed the Indians in peace, and thanked 
them for the toil they had supported with us, the Christians 
with subtlety sent us on our way under charge of Zebreros, an 
alcalde, attended by two men. They took us through forests 
and solitudes, to hinder us from intercourse with the natives, 
that we might neither witness nor have knowledge of the act 
they would commit. It is but an instance of how frequently 
men are mistaken in their aims ; we set about to preserve the 
liberty of the Indians and thought we had secured it, but the 
contrary appeared ; for the Christians had arranged to go and 

1 Evidently intended for Pimahaitu, through misunderstanding. These 
tribes who lived in permanent habitations, from the village of the Corazones 
(Hearts) to Culiacan, were all of the Piman family, and consequently spoke 
related languages. The Pima do not call themselves Pima, but O-otam, 
"men/' "people." Pima means "no"; pimahaitu, "no thing." The term 
Vasconyados, or Vascongados, refers to the Biscayans. 



116 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1536 

spring upon those we had sent away in peace and confidence. 
They executed their plan as they had designed, taking us 
through the woods, wherein for two days we were lost, without 
water and without way. Seven of our men died of thirst, 
and we all thought to have perished. Many friendly to the 
Christians in their company were unable to reach the place 
where we got water the second night, until the noon of next day. 
We travelled twenty-five leagues, little more or less, and reached 
a town of friendly Indians. The alcalde left us there, and went 
on three leagues farther to a town called Culiacan where was 
Melchior Diaz, principal alcalde and captain of the province. 1 



Chapter 35 
The chief alcalde receives us kindly the night we arrive. 

The alcalde mayor knew of the expedition, and, hearing of 
our return, he immediately left that night and came to where 
we were. He wept with us, giving praises to God our Lord 
for having extended over us so great care. He comforted and 
entertained us hospitably. In behalf of the Governor, Nuno 
de Guzman and himself, he tendered all that he had, and the 
service in his power. He showed much regret for the seizure, 
and the injustice we had received from Alcaraz and others. 
We were sure, had he been present, what was done to the 
Indians and to us would never have occurred. 

The night being passed, we set out the next day for 
Anhacan. The chief alcalde besought us to tarry there, since 
by so doing we could be of eminent service to God and your 
Majesty; the deserted land was without tillage and every- 
where badly wasted, the Indians were fleeing and concealing 
themselves in the thickets, unwilling to occupy their towns; 
we were to send and call them, commanding them in behalf of 

1 For the later career of this officer, see Castaneda's narration. 
Melchior Diaz was a man of very different stamp to Guzman, Alcaraz, and 
Zebreros (or Cebreros), so far as his treatment of the Indians is concerned. 



1536] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 117 

God and the King, to return to live in the vales and cultivate 
the soil. 

To us this appeared difficult to effect. We had brought no 
native of our own, nor of those who accompanied us according 
to custom, intelligent in these affairs. At last we made the 
attempt with two captives, brought from that country, who 
were with the Christians we first overtook. They had seen 
the people who conducted us, and learned from them the great 
authority and command we carried and exercised throughout 
those parts, the wonders we had worked, the sick we had 
cured, and the many things besides we had done. We ordered 
that they, with others of the town, should go together to sum- 
mon the hostile natives among the mountains and of the river 
Petachan, 1 where we had found the Christians, and say to 
them they must come to us, that we wished to speak with 
them. For the protection of the messengers, and as a token 
to the others of our will, we gave them a gourd of those we 
were accustomed to bear in our hands, which had been our 
principal insignia and evidence of rank, 2 and with this they 
went away. 

The Indians were gone seven days, and returned with three 
chiefs of those revolted among the ridges, who brought with 
them fifteen men, and presented us beads, turquoises, and 
feathers. The messengers said they had not found the people 
of the river where we appeared, the Christians having again 
made them run away into the mountains. Melchior Diaz told 
the interpreter to speak to the natives for us ; to say to them 
we came in the name of God, who is in heaven ; that we had 
travelled about the world many years, telling all the people we 
found that they should believe in God and serve Him ; for He 
was the Master of all things on the earth, benefiting and re- 
warding the virtuous, and to the bad giving perpetual punish- 
ment of fire ; that, when the good die, He takes them to heaven, 
where none ever die, nor feel cold, nor hunger, nor thirst, nor 

1 Petatlan — the Rio Sinaloa. 

2 Evidently one of those obtained in Texas and which the Indians there 
so highly regarded. See p. 90, note 2; p. 95, note 1. 



118 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1536 ' 

any inconvenience whatsoever, but the greatest enjoyment pos- 
sible to conceive ; that those who will not believe in Him, nor 
obey His commands, He casts beneath the earth into the com- 
pany of demons, and into a great fire which is never to go out, 
but always torment ; that, over this, if they desired to be Chris- 
tians and serve God in the way we required, the Christians 
would cherish them as brothers and behave towards them very 
kindly ; that we would command they give no offence nor take 
them from their territories, but be their great friends. If the 
Indians did not do this, the Christians would treat them very 
hardly, carrying them away as slaves into other lands. 1 

They answered through the interpreter that they would be 
true Christians and serve God. Being asked to whom they 
sacrifice and offer worship, from whom they ask rain for their 
corn-fields and health for themselves, they answered of a man 
that is in heaven. We inquired of them his name, and they 
told us Aguar ; and they believed he created the whole world, 
and the things in it. We returned to question them as to how 
they knew this ; they answered their fathers and grandfathers 
had told them, that from distant time had come their knowl- 
edge, and they knew the rain and all good things were sent to 
them by him. We told them that the name of him of whom 
they spoke we called Dios ; and if they would call him so, and 
would worship him as we directed, they would find their wel- 
fare. They responded that they well understood, and would 
do as we said. We ordered them to come down from the 
mountains in confidence and peace, inhabit the whole country 
and construct their houses : among these they should build one 
for God, at its entrance place a cross like that which we had 
there present; and, when Christians came among them, they 
should go out to receive them with crosses in their hands, 
without bows or any arms, and take them to their dwellings, 
giving of what they have to eat, and the Christians would do 
them no injury, but be their friends ; and the Indians told us 
they would do as we had commanded. 

1 Among the Indians of this region who were carried away into cap- 
tivity were the Yaqui, who have been hostile to the whites to this day. 



1536] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 119 

The captain having given them shawls and entertained 
them, they returned, taking the two captives who had been 
used as emissaries. This occurrence took place before the 
notary, in the presence of many witnesses. 



Chapter 36 
Of building churches in that land. 

As soon as these Indians went back, all those of that prov- 
ince who were friendly to the Christians, and had heard of us, 
came to visit us, bringing beads and feathers. We commanded 
them to build churches and put crosses in them : to that time 
none had been raised ; and we made them bring their principal 
men to be baptized. 

Then the captain made a covenant with God, not to invade 
nor consent to invasion, nor to enslave any of that country and 
people, to whom we had guaranteed safety ; that this he would 
enforce and defend until your Majesty and the Governor Nuflo 
de Guzman, or the Viceroy in your name, should direct what 
would be most for the service of God and your Highness. 

When the children had been baptized, we departed for the 
town of San Miguel. So soon as we arrived, April 1, 1536, 
came Indians, who told us many people had come down from 
the mountains and were living in the vales; that they had 
made churches and crosses, doing all we had required. Each 
day we heard how these things were advancing to a full im- 
provement. 

Fifteen days of our residence having passed, Alcaraz got 
back with the Christians from the incursion, and they related 
to the captain the manner in which the Indians had come down 
and peopled the plain ; that the towns were inhabited which 
had been tenantless and deserted, the residents, coming out to 
receive them with crosses in their hands, had taken them to 
their houses, giving of what they had, and the Christians had 
slept among them over night. They were surprised at a thing 



120 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1536 

so novel; but, as the natives said they had been assured of 
safety, it was ordered that they should not be harmed, and the 
Christians took friendly leave of them. 

God in His infinite mercy is pleased that in the days of 
your Majesty, under your might and dominion, these nations 
should come to be thoroughly and voluntarily subject to the 
Lord, who has created and redeemed us. We regard this as 
certain, that your Majesty is he who is destined to do so much, 
not difficult to accomplish; for in the two thousand leagues 
we journeyed on land, and in boats on water, and in that we 
travelled unceasingly for ten months after coming out of cap- 
tivity, we found neither sacrifices nor idolatry. 

In the time, we traversed from sea to sea; and from in- 
formation gathered with great diligence, there may be a dis- 
tance from one to another at the widest part, of two thousand 
leagues; and we learned that on the coast of the South Sea 
there are pearls and great riches, and the best and all the most 
opulent countries are near there. 

We were in the village of San Miguel until the fifteenth day 
of May. 1 The cause of so long a detention was, that from 
thence to the city of Compostela, where the Governor Nuno 
de Guzman resided, are a hundred leagues of country, entirely 
devastated and filled with enemies, where it was necessary we 
should have protection. Twenty mounted men went with us 
for forty leagues, and after that six Christians accompanied 
us, who had with them five hundred slaves. Arrived at Com- 
postela, the Governor entertained us graciously and gave us 
of his clothing for our use. I could not wear any for some 
time, nor could we sleep anywhere else but on the ground. 
After ten or twelve days we left for Mexico, and were all along 
on the way well entertained by Christians. Many came out 
on the roads to gaze at us, giving thanks to God for having 
saved us from so many calamities. We arrived at Mexico on 
Sunday, the day before the vespers of Saint Iago, 2 where we 
were handsomely treated by the Viceroy and the Marquis del 

1 1536. 

2 The day of Saint James the Apostle — July 25, 1536. 



1637] NARBATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 121 

Valle, 1 and welcomed with joy. They gave us clothing and 
proffered whatsoever they had. On the day of Saint Iago was 
a celebration, and a joust of reeds with bulls. 



Chapter 37 
Of what occurred when I wished to return. 

When we had rested two months in Mexico, I desired to 
return to these kingdoms; 2 and being about to embark in the 
month of October, a storm came on, capsizing the ship, and 
she was lost. In consequence I resolved to remain through 
the winter; because in those parts it is a boisterous season 
for navigation. After that had gone by, Dorantes and I left 
Mexico, about Lent, to take shipping at Vera Cruz. We re- 
mained waiting for a wind until Palm Sunday, when we went 
on board, and were detained fifteen days longer for a wind. 
The ship leaked so much that I quitted her, and went to one 
of two other vessels that were ready to sail, but Dorantes 
remained in her. 

On the tenth day of April, 3 the three ships left the port, 
and sailed one hundred and fifty leagues. Two of them 
leaked a great deal; and one night the vessel I was in lost 
their company. Their pilots and masters, as afterwards ap- 
peared, dared not proceed with the other vessels so, and with- 
out telling us of their intentions, or letting us know aught of 
them, put back to the port they had left. We pursued our 
voyage, and on the fourth day of May we entered the harbor 
of Havana, in the island of Cuba. We remained waiting for 
the other vessels, believing them to be on their way, until the 
second of June, when we sailed, in much fear of falling in 
with Frenchmen, as they had a few days before taken three 
Spanish vessels. Having arrived at the island of Bermuda, 
we were struck by one of those storms that overtake those 
who pass there, according to what they state who sail thither. 

1 The Viceroy Mendoza and Cortes. 2 Spain. 3 1537. 



122 SPANISH EXPLOEEES [1537 

All one night we considered ourselves lost; and we were 
thankful that when morning was come, the storm ceased, and 
we could go on our course. 

At the end of twenty-nine days after our departure from 
Havana, we had sailed eleven hundred leagues, which are said 
to be thence to the town of the Azores. The next morning, 
passing by the island called Cuervo, 1 we fell in with a French 
ship. At noon she began to follow, bringing with her a caravel 
captured from the Portuguese, and gave us chase. In the 
evening we saw nine other sail ; but they were so distant we 
could not make out whether they were Portuguese or of those 
that pursued us. At night the Frenchman was within shot 
of a lombard from our ship, and we stole away from our course 
in the dark to evade him, and this we did three or four times. 
He approached so near that he saw us and fired. He might 
have taken us, or, at his option could leave us until the morn- 
ing. I remember with gratitude to the Almighty when the 
sun rose, and we found ourselves close with the Frenchman, 
that near us were the nine sail we saw the evening before, 
which we now recognized to be of the fleet of Portugal. I 
gave thanks to our Lord for escape from the troubles of the 
land and perils of the sea. The Frenchman, so soon as he 
discovered their character, let go the caravel he had seized 
with a cargo of negroes and kept as a prize, to make us think 
he was Portuguese, that we might wait for him. When he 
cast her off, he told the pilot and the master of her, that we 
were French and under his convoy. This said, sixty oars 
were put out from his ship, and thus with these and sail he 
commenced to flee, moving so fast it was hardly credible. 
The caravel being let go, went to the galleon, and informed 
the commander that the other ship and ours were French. 
As we drew nigh the galleon, and the fleet saw we were com- 
ing down upon them, they made no doubt we were, and put- 
ting themselves in order of battle, bore up for us, and when 
near we hailed them. Discovering that we were friends, they 
found that they were mocked in permitting the corsair to 

1 Corvo. 



1537] NARBATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 123 

escape, by being told that we were French and of his 
company. 

Four caravels were sent in pursuit. The galleon drawing 
near, after the salutation from us, the commander, Diego de 
Silveira, asked whence we came and what merchandise we 
carried, when we answered that we came from New Spain, 
and were loaded with silver and gold. He asked us how 
much there might be; the captain told him we carried three 
thousand castellanos. The commander replied: "In honest 
truth you come very rich, although you bring a very sorry 
ship and a still poorer artillery. By Heaven, that renegade 
whoreson Frenchman has lost a good mouthful. Now that 
you have escaped, follow me, and do not leave me that I may, 
with God's help, deliver you in Spain." 

After a little time, the caravels that pursued the French- 
man returned, for plainly he moved too fast for them; they 
did not like either, to leave the fleet, which was guarding 
three ships that came laden with spices. Thus we reached 
the island of Terceira, where we reposed fifteen days, taking 
refreshment and awaiting the arrival of another ship coming 
with a cargo from India, the companion of the three of which 
the armada was in charge. The time having run out, we left 
that place with the fleet, and arrived at the port of Lisbon on 
the ninth of August, on the vespers of the day of our master 
Saint Lawrence, 1 in the year one thousand five hundred and 
thirty-seven. 

That what I have stated in my foregoing narrative is true, 
I subscribe with my name. 

Cabeza de Vaca. 

The narrative here ended is signed with his name and arms. 

Chapter 38 

Of what became of the others who went to Indias. 

Since giving this circumstantial account of events attending 
the voyage to Florida, the invasion, and our going out thence 
1 The day of Saint Lawrence (San Lorenzo) is August 10. 



124 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1537 

until the arrival in these realms, I desire to state what became 
of the ships and of the people who remained with them. I 
have not before touched on this, as we were uninformed until 
coming to New Spain, where we found many of the persons, 
and others here in Castile, from whom we learned everything 
to the latest particular. 

At the time we left, one of the ships had already been lost 
on the breakers, and the three others were in considerable 
danger, having nearly a hundred souls on board and few stores. 
Among the persons were ten married women, one of whom 
had told the Governor many things that afterwards befell 
him on the voyage. She cautioned him before he went inland 
not to go, as she was confident that neither he nor any going 
with him could ever escape; but should any one come back 
from that country, the Almighty must work great wonders in 
his behalf, though she believed few or none would return. 
The Governor said that he and his followers were going to 
fight and conquer nations and countries wholly unknown, 
and in subduing them he knew that many would be slain; 
nevertheless, that those who survived would be fortunate, 
since from what he had understood of the opulence of that 
land, they must become very rich. And further he begged 
her to inform him whence she learned those things that had 
passed, as well as those she spoke of, that were to come ; she 
replied that in Castile a Moorish woman of Hornachos had 
told them to her, which she had stated to us likewise before 
we left Spain, and while on the passage many things happened 
in the way she foretold. 

After the Governor had made Caravallo, a native of Cuenca 
de Huete, his lieutenant and commander of the vessels and 
people, he departed, leaving orders that all diligence should 
be used to repair on board, and take the direct course to Pan- 
uco, keeping along the shore closely examining for the harbor, 
and having found it, the vessels should enter there and await 
our arrival. And the people state, that when they had be- 
taken themselves to the ships, all of them looking at that 
woman, they distinctly heard her say to the females, that 



1537] NARRATIVE OF CABEZA DE VACA 125 

well, since their husbands had gone inland, putting their per- 
sons in so great jeopardy, their wives should in no way take 
more account of them, but ought soon to be looking after 
whom they would marry, and that she should do so. She 
did accordingly: she and others married, or became the con- 
cubines of those who remained in the ships. 

After we left, the vessels made sail, taking their course 
onward; but not finding the harbor, they returned. Five 
leagues below the place at which we debarked, they found 
the port, the same we discovered when we saw the Spanish 
cases containing dead bodies, which were of Christians. 1 Into 
this haven and along this coast, the three ships passed with 
the other ship that came from Cuba, and the brigantine, look- 
ing for us nearly a year, and not finding us, they went to New 
Spain. 

The port of which we speak is the best in the world. At 
the entrance are six fathoms of water and five near the shore. 
It runs up into the land seven or eight leagues. The bottom 
is fine white sand. No sea breaks upon it nor boisterous 
storm, and it can contain many vessels. Fish is in great 
plenty. There are a hundred leagues to Havana, a town of 
Christians in Cuba, with which it bears north and south. 
The north-east wind ever prevails and vessels go from one to 
the other, returning in a few days; for the reason that they 
sail either way with it on the quarter. 

As I have given account of the vessels, it may be well that 
I state who are, and from what parts of these kingdoms come, 
the persons whom our Lord has been pleased to release from 
these troubles. The first is Alonzo del Castillo Maldonado, 
native of Salamanca, son of Doctor Castillo and Dona Al- 
donQa Maldonado. The second is Andres Dorantes, son of Pablo 
Dorantes, native of Bejar, and citizen of Gibraleon. The 
third is Alvar Nunez Cabega de Vaca, son of Francisco de Vera, 
and grandson of Pedro de Vera who conquered the Canaries, 
and his mother was Dona Tereca Cabega de Vaca, native of 

1 Tampa Bay, Florida. 



126 SPANISH EXPLORERS 

Xerez de la Frontera. The fourth, called Estevanico, is an 
Arabian black, native of Acamor. 



The End 

The present tract was imprinted in the very magnificent, 
noble and very ancient City of Zamora, by the honored residents 
Augustin de Paz and Juan Picardo, partners, printers of books, 
at the cost and outlay of the virtuous Juan Pedro Musetti, 
book merchant of Medina del Campo, having been finished 
the sixth day of the month of October, in the year one thou- 
sand five hundred and forty-two of the birth of our Saviour 
Jesus Christ. 1 

1 Colophon of the first edition. 



THE NARRATIVE OF THE EXPEDITION 
OF HERNANDO DE SOTO, BY THE 
GENTLEMAN OF ELVAS 



INTRODUCTION 

In the early annals of the exploration, conquest, and set- 
tlement of the territory of the United States none are to be 
found to which more interest is attached than to the expedi- 
tion of Hernando de Soto through the Gulf States. History, 
tradition, and poetry are indissolubly linked with his name. 
Counties, towns, and lakes have been named after him, and 
tradition attaches his name to many localities far removed 
from the line of his march. 

In the narrative of the expedition we get our first geographi- 
cal knowledge of the interior of the states of Florida, Georgia, 
North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, 
Arkansas, Texas, and the Indian Territory. The Spaniards 
while on their minor expeditions among the Indians may 
also have entered the states of Missouri and Louisiana, but of 
this there is no certainty. 

The earliest history of the great Indian tribes or nations 
residing in the above-named states is related by these narra- 
tives, the expedition having traversed the territory of the 
Timuguas, Cherokees, the various divisions or tribes of the 
Muskogee or Creek confederacy, the Choctaws, Chickasaws, 
Quapaws or Arkansas, several branches of the great Pani na- 
tion, and some other tribes that are not so easily identified. 
In the narratives are also to be found the first descriptions of 
the habits, manners, and customs of the native tribes met 
with. Their towns, villages, houses, temples, granaries, 
bridges, canoes, banners, arms, wearing apparel, and culi- 
nary implements are also described. 

The first published narrative was written by a gentleman 
from the town of Elvas, in Portugal, who joined the expedi- 

k 129 



130 ' SPANISH EXPLORERS 

tion and participated in its trials and privations, and in the 
weary but memorable march through what was then known 
as Florida. If he was one of those Portuguese who are named 
in the book as having started from Elvas, the inference may 
be drawn from the wording of the narrative that he was 
named Alvaro Fernandez. His narrative was written after 
his return from the expedition, and is evidently not based 
upon a diary, or even field-notes, but seemingly was drawn 
entirely from memory. His descriptions are somewhat vague, 
the localities sometimes indefinite, the distances sometimes 
confused, and there are some palpable errors. The lengthy 
addresses of the caciques belong to romance rather than to 
history; at least, they are open to grave suspicion that they 
were manufactured for the occasion. Nevertheless, when the 
narrative is considered as a whole, it is decidedly the best 
full account that has been handed down to us. It records 
the first discovery and navigation of the Mississippi River, 
the death of its discoverer, De Soto, the building of the first 
sea-going vessels — brigantines — by Moscoso, the first voy- 
age down "the great river," and the arrival in Mexico of the 
remnants of the once powerful expedition. The narrative, 
taken in connection with that of Ranjel, preserved in Oviedo's 
Historia General y Natural de las Indias (Seville, 1547), sup- 
plies almost a daily record of the events as they occurred. 

The Gentleman of Elvas having been an eye-witness, and 
his narrative being the best one that has been preserved, it 
must be taken as a basis for laying down the route of the 
expedition. The abridged journal of Ranjel, De Soto's pri- 
vate secretary, should also be accepted as a standard, especially 
as to dates and the order in which the towns and provinces 
are named. The narrative of Biedma, the factor of the expe- 
dition, 1 although written after his arrival in Mexico, supplies 

1 First printed by Buckingham Smith in his Coleccion de varios Docu- 
mentos para la Historia de la Florida (London, 1857). 



INTRODUCTION 131 

some additional information. It furnishes the only clue as 
to the direction pursued by Moscoso, after leaving Guachoya, 
and therefore contains valuable auxiliary evidence. The ac- 
count written by Garcilaso de la Vega, "the Inca," Florida 
del Ynca (Lisbon, 1605), is principally based upon the oral 
statements of a noble Spaniard who accompanied Soto as a 
volunteer, and the written but illiterate reports of two com- 
mon soldiers, Alonzo de Carmona and Juan Coles. After elimi- 
nating all the overdrawn, flowery, and fanciful portions of 
the account, there is a residue consisting, in part, of misplaced 
towns, provinces, and events, together with occasional dupli- 
cations of descriptions. Of the remainder, only such portions 
as conform to, or do not conflict with, the other narratives are 
worthy of consideration. By combining the geographical 
topographical, and descriptive portions of the narratives, and 
exploring the probable and possible sections of the route the 
present writer has succeeded in identifying a number of points 
visited by Soto and his followers. A detailed description of 
the places identified will be found in the Publications of the 
Mississippi Historical Society (VI. 449-467) ; and the relative 
value of the narratives, together with the minor documents 
is discussed in the same series (VII. 379-387). 

The Gentleman of Elvas, unlike Ran j el, does not put him- 
self forward, but was so modest that only once does he refer 
to himself while on the march through Florida, and that was 
on the occasion of the death of some relatives while at Ami- 
noya. Seemingly he did not take an active part at the front 
or in the advances, but was always with the main army. 

The Narrative of the Gentleman of Elvas was first pub- 
lished at Evora, Portugal, in 1557. It was reprinted at Lis- 
bon in 1844 by the Royal Academy, and again in 1875. The 
first French edition appeared in 1685, and an English transla- 
tion from this edition was published in 1686. The first Eng- 
lish version, by Hakluyt, entitled Virginia richly valued by 



132 ' SPANISH EXPLORERS 

the Description of the Mainland of Florida, appeared in 1609, 
and a reprint entitled The worthye and famous Historie of the 
Travailles, Discovery, and Conquest of Terra Florida, in 1611. 
A reprint from the latter, edited by William B. Rye, was pub- 
lished by the Hakluyt Society in 1851. The version of 1611 is 
included in Force's Tracts, Volume IV., 1846, and in French's 
Historical Collections of Louisiana, Part 2. The English trans- 
lation by Buckingham Smith, which was published by the 
Bradford Club in 1866, in a volume entitled The Career of 
Hernando de Soto in the Conquest of Florida, is the latest and 
most authentic version. It is this which is followed in the 
present volume. A reprint of Smith's translation, edited by 
Professor Edward G. Bourne, was published in 1904. 

T. Hayes Lewis. 




J5 WANDERINGS 

first published in, and now reproduced 



I InliLnti *.J.-l<l.''(4S,i«! 1 i..t. J 




A CONTEMPORANEOUS MAP OF THE AREA OF DE SOTO'S WANDERINGS 
Apparently made by one of his followers. From the Archives of the Indies at Seville. First published in, and now reproduced 

from, Harrisse's "Discovery of North America" 



THE NARRATIVE OF THE EXPEDITION 
OF HERNANDO DE SOTO, BY THE 
GENTLEMAN OF ELVAS 

True relation of the vicissitudes that attended the Governor Don 
Hernando de Soto and some nobles of Portugal in the dis- 
covery of the Province of Florida now just given by a 
Fidalgo of Elvas. Viewed by the Lord Inquisitor. 1 

Fernando da Silveira, Senhor da Serzedas, great Poet and 
very Illustrious, respecting the Material of this Book, 
and in Praise of the Author. 



Epigram 

He who would see the New World, 
The Golden Pole, 2 the second, 
Other seas, other lands, 
Achievements great, and wars, 
And such things attempted 
As alarm and give pleasure, 
Strike terror and lend delight ; — 
Read of the author this pleasing story, 
Where nothing fabulous is told, 
All worthy of being esteemed, 
Read, considered, used. 

1 From the title page of the original. 

2 We inhabit the Northern Arctic Pole, and that people inhabit the 
Southern Antarctic Pole. Golden Pole is used because the region is rich. 
(Footnote in the original.) 

133 



134 SPANISH EXPLORERS 

ANDRE DE BURGOS * TO THE PRUDENT READER. 

Aristotle writes that all, or at least most men, are given 
or prone to look at and listen to novelties, especially when 
they are of foreign or remote countries. These things, he 
says, enliven the heavy while they give recreation to delicate 
and subtile minds, that propensity moving men not only to see 
and hear, but, if possible, to take part in occurrences. This 
desire exists in the Lusitanians more than in any other people, 
— for two reasons : the one, because they are very ingenious 
and warlike; the other, because they are by nature great 
navigators, having discovered more land, with wider sailing, 
than all the nations of the earth beside. So, it appearing to 
me that I could do some little service to those who should 
read this book, I resolved to imprint it, assured, beyond its 
being in the Portuguese, that it is composed by a native, and 
likewise because citizens of Elvas took part in the discovery, 
as the narrative will itself disclose. What he has written I 
undoubtingly credit : he tells no tales, nor speaks of fabulous 
things; and we may believe that the author — having no 
interest in the matter — would not swerve from truth. We 
have his assurance besides, that all he has set down passed 
before him. Should the language, by chance, appear to you 
careless, lay not the fault on me; I imprint and do not write. 
God be your protector. 

DISCOVERY OF FLORIDA 

Relation of the toils and hardships that attended Don Hernando 
de Soto, governor of Florida, in the conquest of that 
country; in which is set forth who he was, and also 
who were others with him; containing some account of 
the peculiarities and diversities of the country, of all 
that they saw and of what befell them. 

1 The printer. 



1531] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 135 

Chapter 1 

Who Soto was, and how he came to get the government 

of Florida. 

Hernando de Soto was the son of an esquire of Xerez de 
Badajoz, and went to the Indias of the Ocean Sea, belonging 
to Castile, at the time Pedrarias Davila was the Governor. 
He had nothing more than blade and buckler: for his cour- 
age and good qualities Pedrarias appointed him to be captain 
of a troop of horse, and he went by his order with Hernando 
Pizarro to conquer Peru. 1 According to the report of many 
persons who were there, he distinguished himself over all the 
captains and principal personages present, not only at the 
seizure of Atabalipa, lord of Peru, and in carrying the City of 
Cuzco, but at all other places wheresoever he went and found 
resistance. Hence, apart from his share in the treasure of 
Atabalipa, he got a good amount, bringing together in time, 
from portions falling to his lot, one hundred and eighty thou- 
sand cruzados, which he brought with him to Spain. Of this 
the Emperor borrowed a part, which was paid; six hundred 
thousand reales 2 in duties on the silks of Granada, and the 
rest at the Casa de Contratacion. 3 

In Seville, Soto employed a superintendent of household, 
an usher, pages, equerry, chamberlain, footmen, and all the 
other servants requisite for the establishment of a gentleman. 
Thence he went to Court, and while there was accompanied 
by Juan de Anasco of Seville, Luis Moscoso de Alvarado, Nuno 
de Tobar, and Juan Rodriguez Lobillo. All, except Anasco, 
came with him from Peru ; and each brought fourteen or fif- 
teen thousand cruzados. They went well and costly appar- 
elled ; and Soto, although by nature not profuse, as it was the 
first time he was to show himself at Court, spent largely, and 
went about closely attended by those I have named, by his 
dependents, and by many others who there came about him. 

1 In 1531. 

2 Span, real, the eighth of a silver dollar. 

3 The India House, or Board of Trade, at Seville. 



136 SPANISH EXPLOEEES [1537 

He married Dona Ysabel de Bobadilla, daughter of Pedrarias 
Davila, Count of Punonrostro. The Emperor made him Gov- 
ernor of the Island of Cuba and Adelantado of Florida, with 
title of Marquis to a certain part of the territory he should 
conquer. 

Chapter 2 

How Cabega de Vaca arrived at Court, and gave account of the 
country of Florida; and of the persons who assembled 
at Seville to accompany Don Hernando de Soto. 

After Don Hernando had obtained the concession, a fidalgo 1 
arrived at Court from the Indias, CabeQa de Vaca by name, 
who had been in Florida with Narvaez ; and he stated how 
he with four others had escaped, taking the way to New 
Spain; that the Governor had been lost in the sea, and the 
rest were all dead. He brought with him a written relation of 
adventures, which said in some places: Here I have seen 
this; and the rest which I saw I leave to confer of with His 
Majesty: generally, however, he described the poverty of the 
country, and spoke of the hardships he had undergone. Some 
of his kinsfolk, desirous of going to the Indias, strongly urged 
him to tell them whether he had seen any rich country in 
Florida or not; but he told them that he could not do so; 
because he and another (by name Orantes, 2 who had remained 
in New Spain with the purpose of returning into Florida) had 
sworn not to divulge certain things which they had seen, lest 
some one might beg the government in advance of them, for 
which he had come to Spain; nevertheless, he gave them to 
understand that it was the richest country in the world. 

Don Hernando de Soto was desirous that Cabeca de Vaca 
should go with him, and made him favorable proposals; but 
after they had come upon terms they disagreed, because the 
Adelantado would not give the money requisite to pay for a 
ship that the other had bought. Baltasar de Gallegos and 
Cristobal de Espindola told CabeQa de Vaca, their kinsman, 

1 Gentleman. 2 Dorantes. 



1538] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 137 

that as they had made up their minds to go to Florida, in con- 
sequence of what he had told them, they besought him to 
counsel them ; to which he replied, that the reason he did not 
go was because he hoped to receive another government, being 
reluctant to march under the standard of another; that he 
had himself come to solicit the conquest of Florida, and though 
he found it had already been granted to Don Hernando de 
Soto, yet, on account of his oath, he could not divulge what 
they desired to know; nevertheless, he would advise them to 
sell their estates and go — that in so doing they would act 
wisely. 

As soon as CabeQa de Vaca had an opportunity he spoke 
with the Emperor; and gave him an account of all that he 
had gone through with, seen, and could by any means ascer- 
tain. Of this relation, made by word of mouth, the Marquis 
of Astorga was informed. He determined at once to send his 
brother, Don Antonio Osorio; and with him Francisco and 
Garcia Osorio, two of his kinsmen, also made ready to go. 
Don Antonio disposed of sixty thousand reales income that he 
received of the Church, and Francisco of a village of vassals 
he owned in Campos. They joined the Adelantado at Seville, 
as did also Nuno de Tobar, Luis de Moscoso, and Juan Rod- 
riguez Lobillo. Moscoso took two brothers ; there went like- 
wise Don Carlos, who had married the Governor's niece, and 
he carried her with him. From Badajoz went Pedro Calderon, 
and three kinsmen of the Adelantado : Arias Tinoco, Alonso 
Romo, and Diego Tinoco. 

As Luis de Moscoso passed through Elvas, 1 Andre de Vas- 
concelos spoke with him, and requested him to speak to Don 
Hernando de Soto in his behalf; and he gave him warrants, 
issued by the Marquis of Vilareal, conferring on him the cap- 
taincy of Ceuta, that he might show them; which when the 
Adelantado saw, and had informed himself of who he was, he 
wrote to him that he would favor him in and through all, 
and would give him a command in Florida. From Elvas 
went Andre de Vasconcelos, Fernan Pegado, Antonio Mar- 

1 In eastern Portugal, near the Spanish border. 



138 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1538 

tinez Segurado, Men Royz Pereyra, Joam Cordeiro, Estevan 
Pegado, Bento Fernandez, Alvaro Fernandez; and from 
Salamanca, Jaen, Valencia, Albuquerque, and other parts 
of Spain, assembled many persons of noble extraction in 
Seville; so much so that many men of good condition, who 
had sold their lands, remained behind in Sanlucar for want 
of shipping, when for known countries and rich it was usual 
to lack men : and the cause of this was what CabeQa de Vaca 
had told the Emperor, and given persons to understand who 
conversed with him respecting that country. He went for 
Governor to Rio de la Plata, but his kinsmen followed Soto. 
Baltasar de Gallegos received the appointment of chief 
castellan, and took with him his wife. He sold houses, vine- 
yards, a rent of wheat, and ninety geiras of olive-field in the 
Xarafe of Seville. There went also many other persons of 
mark. The offices, being desired of many, were sought through 
powerful influence: the place of factor was held by Antonio 
de Biedma, that of comptroller by Juan de Anasco, and that 
of treasurer by Juan Gaytan, nephew of the Cardinal of 
Ciguenza. 

Chapter 3 

How the Portuguese went to Seville and thence to Sanlucar; 
and how the captains were appointed over the ships, 
and the people distributed among them. 

The Portuguese left Elvas the 15th day of January, and 
came to Seville on the vespers of Saint Sebastian. 1 They went 
to the residence of the Governor ; and entering the court, over 
which were some galleries in which he stood, he came down 
and met them at the foot of the stairs, whence they returned 
with him ; and he ordered chairs to be brought, in which they 
might be seated. Andre de Vasconcelos told him who he was, 
and who the others were; that they had all come to go with 
him, and aid in his enterprise. The Adelantado thanked him, 

1 January 20. 



1538] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 139 

and appeared well pleased with their coming and proffer. 
The table being already laid, he invited them to sit down ; and 
while at dinner, he directed his major-domo to find lodgings 
for them near his house. 

From Seville the Governor went to Sanlucar, with all the 
people that were to go. He commanded a muster to be made, 
to which the Portuguese turned out in polished armor, and the 
Castilians very showily, in silk over silk, pinked and slashed. 
As such luxury did not appear to him becoming on such occa- 
sion, he ordered a review to be called for the next day, when 
every man should appear with his arms ; to which the Portu- 
guese came as at first; and the Governor set them in order 
near the standard borne by his ensign. The greater number 
of the Castilians were in very sorry and rusty shirts of mail; 
all wore steel caps or helmets, but had very poor lances. Some 
of them sought to get among the Portuguese. Those that Soto 
liked and accepted of were passed, counted, and enlisted ; six 
hundred men in all followed him to Florida. He had bought 
seven ships ; and the necessary subsistence was already on 
board. He appointed captains, delivering to each of them 
his ship, with a roll of the people he was to take with him. 

Chapter 4 

How the Adelantado with his people left Spain, going to the 
Canary Islands, and afterward arrived in the Antillas. 

In the month of April, of the year 1538 of the Christian 
era, the Adelantado delivered the vessels to their several cap- 
tains, took for himself a new ship, fast of sail, and gave an- 
other to Andre de Vasconcelos, in which the Portuguese were 
to go. He passed over the bar of Sanlucar on Sunday, the 
morning of Saint Lazarus, with great festivity, commanding 
the trumpets to be sounded and many charges of artillery to 
be fired. With a favorable wind he sailed four days, when it 
lulled, the calms continuing for eight days, with such rolling 
sea that the ships made no headway. 

The fifteenth day after our departure we came to Gomera, 



140 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1538 

one of the Canaries, on Easter Sunday, in the morning. The 
Governor of the Island was apparelled all in white, cloak, 
jerkin, hose, shoes, and cap, so that he looked like a governor 
of Gypsies. He received the Adelantado with much pleasure, 
lodging him well and the rest with him gratuitously. To 
Dona Ysabel he gave a natural daughter of his to be her wait- 
ing-maid. For our money we got abundant provision of bread, 
wine, and meats, bringing off with us what was needful for 
the ships. Sunday following, eight days after arrival, we took 
our departure. 

On Pentecost we came into the harbor of the city of Santi- 
ago, in Cuba of the Antillas. Directly a gentleman of the 
town sent to the seaside a splendid roan horse, well caparisoned, 
for the Governor to mount, and a mule for his wife ; and all the 
horsemen and footmen in town at the time came out to receive 
him at the landing. He was well lodged, attentively visited and 
served by all the citizens. Quarters were furnished to every 
one without cost. Those who wished to go into the country 
were divided among the farm-houses, into squads of four and 
six persons, according to the several ability of the owners, 
who provided them with food. 

Chapter 5 

Of the inhabitants there are in the city of Santiago and other towns 
of the island, — the character of the soil and of the fruit. 

The city of Santiago consists of about eighty spacious and 
well-contrived dwellings. Some are built of stone and lime, 
covered with tiles: the greater part have the sides of board 
and the roofs of dried grass. There are extensive country 
seats, and on them many trees, which differ from those of 
Spain. The fig-tree bears fruit as big as the fist, yellow within 
and of little flavor : another tree with a delicious fruit, called 
anane, is of the shape and size of a small pine-apple, the skin 
of which being taken off, the pulp appears like a piece of curd. 
On the farms about in the country are other larger pines, of 
very agreeable and high flavor, produced on low trees that 



1538] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 141 

look like the aloe. Another tree yields a fruit called mamei, 
the size of a peach, by the islanders more esteemed than any 
other in the country. The guayaba is in the form of a filbert, 
and is the size of a fig. There is a tree, which is a stalk with- 
out any branch, the height of a lance, each leaf the length of 
a javelin, the fruit of the size and form of a cucumber, the 
bunch having twenty or thirty of them, with which the tree 
goes on bending down more and more as they grow: they 
are called plantanos in that country, are of good flavor, and 
will ripen after they are gathered, although they are better 
when they mature on the tree. The stalks yield fruit but 
once, when they are cut down, and others, which spring up 
at the butt, bear in the coming year. There is another fruit 
called batata, the subsistence of a multitude of people, prin- 
cipally slaves, and now grows in the island of Terceira, be- 
longing to this kingdom of Portugal. It is produced in the 
earth, and looks like the ynhame, with nearly the taste of 
chestnut. The bread of the country is made from a root that 
looks like the batata, the stalk of which is like alder. The 
ground for planting is prepared in hillocks ; into each are laid 
four or five stalks, and a year and a half after they have been 
set the crop is fit to be dug. Should any one, mistaking the 
root for batata, eat any of it, he is in imminent danger; as 
experience has shown, in the case of a soldier, who died in- 
stantly from swallowing a very little. The roots being peeled 
and crushed, they are squeezed in a sort of press; the juice 
that flows has an offensive smell; the bread is of little taste 
and less nourishment. The fruit from Spain are figs and 
oranges, which are produced the year round, the soil being 
very rich and fertile. 

There are numerous cattle and horses in the country, which 
find fresh grass at all seasons. From the many wild cows and 
hogs, the inhabitants everywhere are abundantly supplied 
with meat. Out of the towns are many fruits wild over the 
country; and, as it sometimes happens, when a Christian 
misses his way and is lost for fifteen or twenty days, because 
of the many paths through the thick woods made by the herds 



142 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1538 

traversing to and fro, he will live on fruit and on wild cab- 
bage, there being many and large palm-trees everywhere which 
yield nothing else available beside. 

The island of Cuba is three hundred leagues long from east 
to southeast, and in places thirty, in others forty leagues from 
north to south. There are six towns of Christians, which are 
Santiago, Baracoa, the Bayamo, Puerto Principe, Sancti Spiri- 
tus, and Havana. They each have between thirty and forty 
householders, except Santiago and Havana, which have some 
seventy or eighty dwellings apiece. The towns have all a 
chaplain to hear confession, and a church in which to say 
mass. In Santiago is a monastery of the order of Saint Fran- 
cis ; it has few friars, though well supported by tithes, as the 
country is rich. The Church of Santiago is endowed, has a 
cura, a prebend, and many priests, as it is the church of the 
city which is the metropolis. 

Although the earth contains much gold, there are few 
slaves to seek it, many having destroyed themselves because 
of the hard usage they receive from the Christians in the mines. 
The overseer of Vasco Porcallo, a resident of the island, hav- 
ing understood that his slaves intended to hang themselves, 
went with a cudgel in his hand and waited for them in the 
place at which they were to meet, where he told them that 
they could do nothing, nor think of any thing, that he did 
not know beforehand ; that he had come to hang himself with 
them, to the end that if he gave them a bad life in this world, 
a worse would he give them in that to come. This caused 
them to alter their purpose and return to obedience. 

Chapter 6 

How the Governor sent Dona Ysabel with the ships from Santiago 
to Havana, while he with some of the men went thither 
by land. 

The Governor sent Don Carlos with the ships, in company 
with Dona Ysabel, to tarry for him at Havana, a port in the 
eastern end of the island, one hundred and eighty leagues from 



1538] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 143 

Santiago. He and those that remained, having bought horses, 
set out on their journey, and at the end of twenty-five leagues 
came to Bayamo, the first town. They were lodged, as they 
arrived, in parties of four and six, where their food was given 
to them ; and nothing was paid for any other thing than maize 
for the beasts; because the Governor at each town assessed 
tax on the tribute paid, and the labor done, by the 
Indians. 

A deep river runs near Bayamo, larger than the Guadiana, 
called Tanto. The monstrous alligators do harm in it some- 
times to the Indians and animals in the crossing. In all the 
country there are no wolves, foxes, bears, lions, nor tigers: 
there are dogs in the woods, which have run wild from the 
houses, that feed upon the swine: there are snakes, the size 
of a man's thigh, and even bigger ; but they are very sluggish 
and do no kind of injury. From that town to Puerto Principe 
there are fifty leagues. The roads throughout the island are 
made by cutting out the undergrowth, which if neglected to 
be gone over, though only for a single year, the shrubs spring 
up in such manner that the ways disappear ; and so numer- 
ous likewise are the paths made by cattle, that no one can 
travel without an Indian of the country for a guide, there 
being everywhere high and thick woods. 

From Puerto Principe the Governor went by sea in a canoe 
to the estate of Vasco Porcallo, near the coast, to get news of 
Dona Ysabel, who, at the time, although not then known, was 
in a situation of distress, the ships having parted company, 
two of them being driven in sight of the coast of Florida, and 
all on board were suffering for lack of water and subsistence. 
The storm over, and the vessels come together, not knowing 
where they had been tossed, Cape San Antonio was described, 
an uninhabited part of the island, where they got water ; and 
at the end of forty days from the time of leaving Santiago, 
they arrived at Havana. The Governor presently received 
the news and hastened to meet Dona Ysabel. The troops that 
went by land, one hundred and fifty mounted men in number, 
not to be burdensome upon the islanders, were divided into 



144 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1538 

two squadrons, and marched to Sancti Spiritus, sixty leagues 
from Puerto Principe. The victuals they carried was the 
cac,abe * bread I have spoken of, the nature of which is such 
that it directly dissolves from moisture; whence it happened 
that some ate meat and no bread for many days. They took 
dogs with them, and a man of the country, who hunted as 
they journeyed, and who killed the hogs at night found fur- 
ther necessary for provision where they stopped ; so that they 
had abundant supply, both of beef and pork. They found 
immense annoyance from mosquitos, particularly in a lake 
called Bog of Pia, which they had much ado in crossing be- 
tween mid-day and dark, it being more than half a league 
over, full half a bow-shot of the distance swimming, and all 
the rest of the way the water waist deep, having clams on 
the bottom that sorely cut the feet, for not a boot nor shoe 
sole was left entire at half way. The clothing and saddles 
were floated over in baskets of palm-leaf. In this time the 
insects came in great numbers and settled on the person where 
exposed, their bite raising lumps that smarted keenly, a single 
blow with the hand sufficing to kill so many that the blood 
would run over the arms and body. There was little rest 
at night, as happened also afterwards at like seasons and 
places. 

They came to Sancti Spiritus, a town of thirty houses, near 
which passes a little river. The grounds are very fertile and 
pleasant, abundant in good oranges, citrons, and native fruit. 
Here one half the people were lodged ; the other half went on 
twenty-five leagues farther, to a town of fifteen or twenty 
householders, called Trinidad. There is a hospital for the 
poor, the only one in the island. They say the town was once 
the largest of any; and that before the Christians came into 
the country a ship sailing along the coast had in her a very 
sick man, who begged to be set on shore, which the captain 
directly ordered, and the vessel kept on her way. The in- 
habitants, finding him where he had been left, on that shore 
which had never yet been hunted up by Christians, carried 

1 Cassava. 



1539] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 145 

him home, and took care of him until he was well. The chief 
of the town gave him a daughter ; and being at war with the 
country round about, through the prowess and exertion of 
the Christian he subdued and reduced to his control all the 
people of Cuba. A long time after, when Diego Velasquez 
went to conquer the island, whence he made the discovery of 
New Spain, this man, then among the natives, brought them, 
by his management, to obedience, and put them under the 
rule of that Governor. 

From Trinidad they travelled a distance of eighty leagues 
without a town, and arrived at Havana in the end of March. 
They found the Governor there, and the rest of the people who 
had come with him from Spain. He sent Juan de Anasco in 
a caravel, with two pinnaces and fifty men, to explore the 
harbor in Florida, who brought back two Indians taken on 
the coast. In consequence, as much because of the necessity 
of having them for guides and interpreters, as because they 
said, by signs, that there was much gold in Florida, the 
Governor and all the company were greatly rejoiced, and 
longed for the hour of departure — that land appearing to 
them to be the richest of any which until then had been 
discovered. 

Chapter 7 

How we left Havana and came to Florida, and what other mat- 
ters took place. 

Before our departure, the Governor deprived Nuno de 
Tobar of the rank of captain-general, and conferred it on a 
resident of Cuba, Vasco Porcallo de Figueroa, which caused 
the vessels to be well provisioned, he giving a great many hogs 
and loads of cac,abe bread. That was done because Nuno de 
Tobar had made love to Dona Ysabel's waiting-maid, daugh- 
ter of the Governor of Gomera; and though he had lost his 
place, yet, to return to Soto's favor, for she was with child 
by him, he took her to wife and went to Florida. Dona Ysabel 
remained, and with her the wife of Don Carlos, of Baltasar de 



146 SPANISH EXPLOPEKS [1539 

Gallegos, and of Nuno de Tobar. The Governor left, as his 
lieutenant over the island, Juan de Rojas, a fidalgo of 
Havana. 

On Sunday, the 18th day of May, in the year 1539, the 
Adelantado sailed from Havana with a fleet of nine vessels, 
five of them ships, two caravels, two pinnaces; and he ran 
seven days with favorable weather. On the 25th of the month, 
being the festival of Espiritu Santo, 1 the land was seen, and 
anchor cast a league from shore, because of the shoals. On 
Friday, the 30th, the army landed in Florida, two leagues 
from the town 2 of an Indian chief named Ucita. Two hundred 
and thirteen horses were set on shore, to unburden the ships, 
that they should draw the less water; the seamen only re- 
mained on board, who going up every day a little with the 
tide, the end of eight days brought them near to the 
town. 

So soon as the people were come to land, the camp was 
pitched on the sea-side, nigh the bay, which goes up close to 
the town. Presently the captain-general, Vasco Porcallo, tak- 
ing seven horsemen with him, beat up the country half a league 
about, and discovered six Indians, who tried to resist him 
with arrows, the weapons they are accustomed to use. The 
horsemen killed two, and the four others escaped, the country 
being obstructed by bushes and ponds, in which the horses 
bogged and fell, with their riders, of weakness from the voy- 
age. At night the Governor, with a hundred men in the pin- 
naces, came upon a deserted town ; for, so soon as the Chris- 
tians appeared in sight of land, they were descried, and all 
along on the coast many smokes were seen to rise, which the 
Indians make to warn one another. The next day, Luis de 
Moscoso, master of the camp, set the men in order. The 
horsemen he put in three squadrons — the vanguard, battal- 
ion, and rearward; and thus they marched that day and the 
next, compassing great creeks which run up from the bay; 

1 Whitsunday. 

2 Ucita or Oqita. This first town was on the point at the mouth of Char- 
lotte Harbor, Florida. 



1539] EXPEDITION OF HEENANDO DE SOTO 147 

and on the first of June, being Trinity Sunday, they arrived 
at the town of Ucita, 1 where the Governor tarried. 

The town was of seven or eight houses, built of timber, 
and covered with palm-leaves. The chief's house stood near 
the beach, upon a very high mount made by hand for de- 
fence ; at the other end of the town was a temple, on the top 
of which perched a wooden fowl with gilded eyes, and within 
were found some pearls of small value, injured by fire, such as 
the Indians pierce for beads, much esteeming them, and string 
to wear about the neck and wrists. The Governor lodged in 
the house of the chief, and with him Vasco Porcallo and Luis 
de Moscoso ; in other houses, midway in the town, was lodged 
the chief castellan, Baltasar de Gallegos, where were set apart 
the provisions brought in the vessels. The rest of the dwell- 
ings, with the temple, were thrown down, and every mess of 
three or four soldiers made a cabin, wherein they lodged. 
The ground about was very fenny, and encumbered with dense 
thicket and high trees. The Governor ordered the woods to 
be felled the distance of a crossbow-shot around the place, 
that the horses might run, and the Christians have the advan- 
tage, should the Indians make an attack at night. In the 
paths, and at proper points, sentinels of foot-soldiers were set 
in couples, who watched by turns; the horsemen, going the 
rounds, were ready to support them should there be an alarm. 

The Governor made four captains of horsemen and two of 
footmen : those of the horse were Andre de Vasconcelos, Pedro 
Calderon of Badajoz, and the two Cardenosas his kinsmen 
(Arias Tinoco and Alfonso Romo), also natives of Badajoz; 
those of the foot were Francisco Maldonado of Salamanca, and 
Juan Rodriguez Lobillo. While we were in this town of Ucita, 
the Indians which Juan de Anasco had taken on that coast, 
and were with the Governor as guides and interpreters, through 
the carelessness of two men who had charge of them, got away 
one night. For this the Governor felt very sorry, as did every 
one else; for some excursions had already been made, and no 

1 The name of this town was Hirriga, according to the Inca, and it seems 
to have been located on the northeast arm of the harbor. 



148 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1539 

Indians could be taken, the country being of very high and 
thick woods, and in many places marshy. 

Chapter 8 

Of some inroads that were made, and how a Christian was found 
who had been a long time in the possession of a Cacique. 

From, the town of Ucita the Governor sent the chief cas- 
tellan, Baltasar de Gallegos, into the country, with forty 
horsemen and eighty footmen, to procure an Indian if possible. 
In another direction he also sent, for the same purpose, Cap- 
tain Juan Rodriguez Lobillo, with fifty infantry : the greater 
part were of sword and buckler ; the remainder were crossbow 
and gun men. The command of Lobillo marched over a 
swampy land, where horses could not travel; and, half a 
league from camp, came upon some huts near a river. The 
people in them plunged into the water; nevertheless, four 
women were secured; and twenty warriors, who attacked 
our people, so pressed us that we were forced to retire into 
camp. 

The Indians are exceedingly ready with their weapons, 
and so warlike and nimble, that they have no fear of footmen ; 
for if these charge them they flee, and when they turn their 
backs they are presently upon them. They avoid nothing 
more easily than the flight of an arrow. They never remain 
quiet, but are continually running, traversing from place to 
place, so that neither crossbow nor arquebuse can be aimed 
at them. Before a Christian can make a single shot with either, 
an Indian will discharge three or four arrows ; and he seldom 
misses of his object. Where the arrow meets with no armor, it 
pierces as deeply as the shaft from a crossbow. Their bows 
are very perfect; the arrows are made of certain canes, like 
reeds, very heavy, and so stiff that one of them, when sharp- 
ened, will pass through a target. Some are pointed with the 
bone of a fish, sharp and like a chisel ; others with some stone 
like a point of diamond: of such the greater number, when 
they strike upon armor, break at the place the parts are put 



1539] EXPEDITION OE HEBNANDO DE SOTO 149 

together; those of cane split, and will enter a shirt of mail, 
doing more injury than when armed. 

Juan Rodriguez Lobillo got back to camp with six men 
wounded, of whom one died, and he brought with him the 
four women taken in the huts, or cabins. When Baltasar de 
Gallegos came into the open field, he discovered ten or eleven 
Indians, among whom was a Christian, naked and sun-burnt, 
his arms tattooed after their manner, and he in no respect 
differing from them. As soon as the horsemen came in sight, 
they ran upon the Indians, who fled, hiding themselves in a 
thicket, though not before two or three of them were over- 
taken and wounded. The Christian, seeing a horseman com- 
ing upon him with a lance, began to cry out : "Do not kill 
me, cavalier ; I am a Christian ! Do not slay these people ; 
they have given me my life !" Directly he called to the Ind- 
ians, putting them out of fear, when they left the wood and 
came to him. The horsemen took up the Christian and Ind- 
ians behind them on their beasts, and, greatly rejoicing, got 
back to the Governor at nightfall. When he and the rest who 
had remained in camp heard the news, they were no less 
pleased than the others. 

Chapter 9 

How the Christian came to the land of Florida, who he was, and 
of what passed at his interview with the Governor. 

The name of the Christian was Juan Ortiz, a native of 
Seville, and of noble parentage. He had been twelve years 
among the Indians, having gone into the country with Pan- 
philo de Narvaez, and returned in the ships to the island of 
Cuba, where the wife of the Governor remained; whence, by 
her command, he went back to Florida, with some twenty or 
thirty others, in a pinnace ; and coming to the port in sight of 
the town, they saw a cane sticking upright in the ground, with 
a split in the top, holding a letter, which they supposed the 
Governor had left there, to give information of himself before 
marching into the interior. They asked it, to be given to 



150 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1528 

them, of four or five Indians walking along the beach, who, 
by signs, bade them come to land for it, which Ortiz and an- 
other did, though contrary to the wishes of the others. No 
sooner had they got on shore, when many natives came out 
of the houses, and, drawing near, held them in such way 
that they could not escape. One, who would have defended 
himself, they slew on the spot; the other they seized by the 
hands, and took him to Ucita, their chief. The people in the 
pinnace, unwilling to land, kept along the coast and returned 
to Cuba. 

By command of Ucita, Juan Ortiz was bound hand and 
foot to four stakes, and laid upon scaffolding, beneath which 
a fire was kindled, that he might be burned; but a daughter 
of the chief entreated that he might be spared. Though one 
Christian, she said, might do no good, certainly he could do 
no harm, and it would be an honor to have one for a captive ; 
to which the father acceded, directing the injuries to be healed. 
When Ortiz got well, he was put to watching a temple, that 
the wolves, in the night-time, might not carry off the dead 
there, which charge he took in hand, having commended him- 
self to God. One night they snatched away from him the 
body of a little child, son of a principal man ; and, going after 
them, he threw a dart at the wolf that was escaping, which, 
feeling itself wounded, let go its hold, and went off to die; 
and he returned, without knowing what he had done in the 
dark. In the morning, finding the body of the little boy gone, 
he became very sober; and Ucita, when he heard what had 
happened, determined he should be killed; but having sent 
on the trail which Ortiz pointed out as that the wolves had 
made, the body of the child was found, and a little farther on 
a dead wolf; at which circumstance the chief became well 
pleased with the Christian, and satisfied with the guard he 
had kept, ever after taking much notice of him. 

Three years having gone by since he had fallen into the 
hands of this chief, there came another, named Mocoqo, 1 living 

1 The town of Mocoqo was located west of Miakka River (Macaco of the 
old maps), which enters the northwest arm of the harbor. 



1531] EXPEDITION OP HERNANDO DE SOTO 151 

two days' journey distant from that port, and burnt the town, 
when Ucita fled to one he had in another seaport, whereby 
Ortiz lost his occupation, and with it the favor of his master. 
The Indians are worshippers of the Devil, and it is their cus- 
tom to make sacrifices of the blood and bodies of their people, 
or of those of any other they can come by; and they affirm, 
too, that when he would have them make an offering, he 
speaks, telling them that he is athirst, and that they must sac- 
rifice to him. The girl who had delivered Ortiz from the fire, 
told him how her father had the mind to sacrifice him the next 
day, and that he must flee to Mocoqo, who she knew would 
receive him with regard, as she had heard that he had asked 
for him, and said he would like to see him : and as he knew 
not the way, she went half a league out of town with him at 
dark, to put him on the road, returning early so as not to be 
missed. 

Ortiz travelled all night, and in the morning came to a 
river, the boundary of the territory of Mocogo, where he dis- 
covered two men fishing. As this people were at war with 
those of Ucita, and their languages different, he did not know 
how he should be able to tell them who he was, and why he 
came, or make other explanation, that they might not kill 
him as one of the enemy. It was not, however, until he had 
come up to where their arms were placed that he was discov- 
ered, when they fled towards the town ; and though he called 
out to them to wait, that he would do them no injury, they 
only ran the faster for not understanding him. As they 
arrived, shouting, many Indians came out of the town, and 
began surrounding, in order to shoot him with their arrows, 
when he, finding himself pressed, took shelter behind trees, 
crying aloud that he was a Christian fled from Ucita, come to 
visit and serve Mocoqo. At the moment, it pleased God that 
an Indian should come up, who, speaking the language, under- 
stood him and quieted the others, telling them what was said. 
Three or four ran to carry the news, when the cacique, much 
gratified, came a quarter of a league on the way to receive him. 
He caused the Christian immediately to swear to him, according 



152 SPANISH EXPLOEERS [1534 

to the custom of his country, that he would not leave him for 
any other master; and, in return, he promised to show him 
much honor, and if at any time Christians should come to that 
land, he would let him go freely, and give him his permission 
to return to them, pledging his oath to this after the Indian 
usage. 

Three years from that time, some people fishing out at 
sea, three leagues from land, brought news of having seen 
ships; when Mococo, calling Ortiz, gave him permission to 
depart, who, taking leave, made all haste possible to the 
shore, where, finding no vessels, he supposed the story to be 
only a device of the cacique to discover his inclination. In 
this way he remained with him nine years, having little hope 
of ever seeing Christians more ; but no sooner had the arrival 
of the Governor in Florida taken place, when it was known to 
Mocogo, who directly told Ortiz that Christians were in the 
town of Ucita. The captive, thinking himself jested with, as 
he had supposed himself to be before, said that his thoughts 
no longer dwelt on his people, and that his only wish now was 
to serve him. Still the cacique assured him that it was even 
as he stated, and gave him leave to go, telling him that if he 
did not, and the Christians should depart, he must not blame 
him, for he had fulfilled his promise. 

Great was the joy of Ortiz at this news, though still doubt- 
ful of its truth; however, he thanked Mococo, and went his 
way. A dozen principal Indians were sent to accompany him ; 
and on their way to the port, they met Baltasar de Gallegos, 
in the manner that has been related. Arrived at the camp, 
the Governor ordered that apparel be given to him, good ar- 
mor, and a fine horse. When asked if he knew of any country 
where there was either gold or silver, he said that he had not- 
been ten leagues in any direction from where he lived; but 
that thirty leagues distant was a chief named Paracoxi, to 
whom Mocogo, Ucita, and all they that dwelt along the coast 
paid tribute, and that he perhaps had knowledge of some 
good country, as his land was better than theirs, being more 
fertile, abounding in maize. Hearing this, the Governor was. 



1539] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 153 

well pleased, and said he only desired to find subsistence, that 
he might be enabled to go inland with safety ; for that Florida 
was so wide, in some part or other of it, there could not fail 
to be a rich country. The cacique of Mococo came to the 
port, and calling on the Governor, he thus spoke : 

Most High and Powerful Chief: 

Though less able, I believe, to serve you than the least of these 
under your control, but with the wish to do more than even the 
greatest of them can accomplish, I appear before you in the full 
confidence of receiving your favor, as much so as though I deserved 
it, not in requital of the trifling service I rendered in setting free 
the Christian while he was in my power, which I did, not for the 
sake of my honor and of my promise, but because I hold that great 
men should be liberal. As much as in your bodily perfections you 
exceed all, and in your command over fine men are you superior 
to others, so in your nature are you equal to the full enjoyment of 
earthly things. The favor I hope for, great Lord, is that you will 
hold me to be your own, calling on me freely to do whatever may 
be your wish. 

The Governor answered him, that although it were true, in 
freeing and sending him the Christian, he had done no more 
than to keep his word and preserve his honor, nevertheless 
he thanked him for an act so valuable, that there was no other 
for him that could be compared to it, and that, holding him 
henceforth to be a brother, he should in all, and through all, 
favor him. Then a shirt and some other articles of clothing 
were directed to be given to the chief, who, thankfully receiv- 
ing them, took leave and went to his town. 

Chapter 10 

How the Governor, having sent the ships to Cuba, marched 
inland, leaving one hundred men at the port. 

From the port of Espiritu Santo, where the Governor was, 
he sent the chief castellan, with fifty cavalry and thirty or 
forty infantry, to the province of Paracoxi, to observe the 



154 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1539 

character of the country, to inquire of that farther on, and to 
let him hear by message of what he should discover; he also 
sent the vessels to Cuba, that, at an appointed time, they might 
return with provisions. As the principal object of Vasco Por- 
callo de Figueroa in coming to Florida had been to get slaves 
for his plantation and mines, finding, after some incursions, 
that no seizures could be made, because of dense forest and 
extensive bogs, he determined to go back to Cuba; and in 
consequence of that resolution, there grew up such a difference 
between him and Soto, that neither of them treated nor spoke 
to the other kindly. Still, with words of courtesy, he asked 
permission of him to return, and took his leave. 

Baltasar de Gallegos having arrived at Paracoxi, thirty 
Indians came to him on the part of the absent cacique, one 
of whom said: "King Paracoxi, lord of this province, whose 
vassals we are, sends us to ask of you what it is you seek in 
his country, and in what he can serve you ;" to which the chief 
castellan replied, that he much thanked the cacique for his 
proffer, and bade them tell him to return to his town, where 
they would talk together of a peace and friendship he greatly 
desired to establish. They went off, and came again the next 
day, reporting that as their lord could not appear, being very 
unwell, they had come in his stead to see what might be wanted. 
They were asked if they had knowledge or information of any 
country where gold and silver might be found in plenty; to 
which they answered yes; that towards the sunset was a 
province called Cale, the inhabitants of which were at war 
with those of territories where the greater portion of the year 
was summer, and where there was so much gold, that when 
the people came to make war upon those of Cale, they wore 
golden hats like casques. 

As the cacique had not come, Gallegos, reflecting, sus- 
pected the message designed for delay, that he might put him- 
self in a condition of safety; and fearing that, if those men 
were suffered to depart, they might never return, he ordered 
them to be chained together, and sent the news to camp by 
eight men on horseback. The Governor, hearing what had 



1539] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 155 

passed, showed great pleasure, as did the rest who were with 
him, believing what the Indians said might be true. He left 
thirty cavalry and seventy infantry at the port, with provi- 
sions for two years, under command of Captain Calderon, 
marching with the others inland to Paracoxi ; thence, having 
united with the force already there, he passed through a small 
town named Acela, and came to another called Tocaste, 1 
whence he advanced with fifty of foot and thirty horse towards 
Cale ; 2 and having gone through an untenanted town, some 
natives were seen in a lake, to whom having spoken by an 
interpreter, they came out and gave him a guide. From there 
he went to a river of powerful current, in the midst of which 
was a tree, whereon they made a bridge. Over this the people 
passed in safety, the horses being crossed swimming to a 
hawser, by which they were drawn to the other bank, the first 
that entered the water having been drowned for the want of 
one. 

The Governor sent two men on horseback, with word to 
those in the rear that they should advance rapidly, for that 
the way was becoming toilsome and the provisions were short. 
He came to Cale and found the town abandoned ; but he seized 
three spies, and tarried there until the people should arrive, 
they travelling hungry and on bad roads, the country being 
very thin of maize, low, very wet, pondy, and thickly covered 
with trees. 3 Where there were inhabitants, some water- 
cresses could be found, which they who arrived first would 
gather, and, cooking them in water with salt, eat them without 
other thing; and they who could get none, would seize the 
stalks of maize and eat them, the ear, being young, as yet con- 
taining no grain. Having come to the river, which the Gov- 
ernor had passed, they got cabbage from the low palmetto 
growing there, like that of Andalusia. There they were met 

1 Tocaste was on an island in the marsh at the first crossing of " the 
great marsh," so graphically described by the Inca. 

2 This was the river or marsh of Cale, and the Inca's second crossing of 
the great marsh. 

3 They had now reached the higher country, which begins in the south- 
ern part of Polk County. 



156 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1539 

by the messengers, who, reporting a great deal of maize in 
Cale, gave much satisfaction. 

While the people should be coming up, the Governor or- 
dered all the ripe grain in the fields, enough for three months, 
to be secured. In gathering it three Christians were slain. 
One of two Indians who were made prisoners stated that seven 
days' journey distant was a large province, abounding in 
maize, called Apalache. Presently, with fifty cavalry and 
sixty infantry, he set out from Cale, leaving Luis de Moscoso, 
the master of the camp, 1 in command, with directions not to 
move until he should be ordered. Up to that time, no one 
had been able to get servants who should make his bread ; and 
the method being to beat out the maize in log mortars with a 
one-handed pestle of wood, some also sifting the flour after- 
ward through their shirts of mail, the process was found so 
laborious, that many, rather than crush the grain, preferred 
to eat it parched and sodden. The mass was baked in clay 
dishes, set over fire, in the manner that I have described as 
done in Cuba. 

Chapter 11 

How the Governor arrived at Caliquen, and thence, taking the 
cacique with him, came to Napetaca, where the Ind- 
ians, attempting to rescue him, had many of their 
number killed and captured. 

On the eleventh day of August, in the year 1539, the Gov- 
ernor left Cale, and arrived to sleep at a small town called 
Ytara, and the next day at another called Potano, and the 
third at Utinama, and then at another named Malapaz. This 
place was so called because one, representing himself to be its 
cacique, came peacefully, saying that he wished to serve the 
Governor with his people, and asked that he would cause the 
twenty-eight men and women, prisoners taken the night before, 
to be set at liberty; that provisions should be brought, and 
that he would furnish a guide for the country in advance of 
1 An officer somewhat like an adjutant-general. 



1539] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 157 

us; whereupon, the Governor having ordered the prisoners 
to be let loose, and the Indian put under guard, the next day 
in the morning came many natives close to a scrub surrounding 
the town, near which the prisoner asked to be taken, that he 
might speak and satisfy them, as they would obey in what- 
ever he commanded ; but no sooner had he found himself close 
to them, than he boldly started away, and fled so swiftly that 
no one could overtake him, going off with the rest into the 
woods. The Governor ordered a bloodhound, already fleshed 
upon him, to be let loose, which, passing by many, seized upon 
the faithless cacique, and held him until the Christians had 
come up. 

From this town the people went to sleep at that of 
Cholupaha, which, for its abundance of maize, received the 
name of Villafarta; thence, crossing a river before it, by a 
bridge they had made of wood, the Christians marched two 
days through an uninhabited country. 

On the seventeenth day of August they arrived at Caliquen, 
where they heard of the province of Apalache, of Narvaez 
having been there and having embarked, because no road was 
to be found over which to go forward, and of there being no 
other town, and that water was on all sides. Every mind was 
depressed at this information, and all counselled the Governor 
to go back to the port, that they might not be lost, as Narvaez 
had been, and to leave the land of Florida ; that, should they 
go further, they might not be able to get back, as the little 
maize that was yet left the Indians would secure: to which 
Soto replied, that he would never return until he had seen 
with his own eyes what was asserted, things that to him ap- 
peared incredible. Then he ordered us to be in readiness for 
the saddle, sending word to Luis de Moscoso to advance from 
Cale, that he waited for him ; and, as in the judgment of the 
master of the camp, and of many others, they should have to 
return from Apalache, they buried in Cale some iron imple- 
ments with other things. They reached Caliquen through 
much suffering; for the land over which the Governor had 
marched lay wasted and was without maize. 



158 SPANISH EXPLOREES [1539 

All the people having come up, a bridge was ordered to be 
made over a river that passed near the town, whereon we 
crossed, the tenth day of September, taking with us the cacique. 
When three days on our journey, some Indians arrived to 
visit their lord; and every day they came out to the road, 
playing upon flutes, a token among them that they come in 
peace. They stated that further on there was a cacique named 
Uzachil, kinsman of the chief of Caliquen, their lord, who 
waited the arrival of the Governor, prepared to do great ser- 
vices ; and they besought him to set their cacique free, which 
he feared to do, lest they should go off without giving him 
any guides ; so he got rid of them from day to day with spe- 
cious excuses. 

We marched five days, passing through some small towns, 
and arrived at Napetaca on the fifteenth day of September, 
where we found fourteen or fifteen Indians who begged for the 
release of the cacique of Caliquen, to whom the Governor 
declared that their lord was no prisoner, his attendance being 
wished only as far as Uzachil. Having learned from Juan 
Ortiz, to whom a native had made it known, that the Indians 
had determined to assemble and fall upon the Christians, for 
the recovery of their chief, the Governor, on the day for which 
the attack was concerted, commanded his men to be in readi- 
ness, the cavalry to be armed and on horseback, each one so dis- 
posed of in his lodge as not to be seen of the Indians, that they 
might come to the town without reserve. Four hundred war- 
riors, with bows and arrows, appeared in sight of the camp; 
and, going into a thicket, they sent two of their number to 
demand the cacique: the Governor, with six men on foot, 
taking the chief by the hand, conversing with him the while 
to assure the Indians, went towards the place where they Were, 
when, finding the moment propitious, he ordered a trumpet 
to be sounded: directly, they who were in the houses, foot 
as well as horse, set upon the natives, who, assailed unexpect- 
edly, thought only of their safety. Of two horses killed, one was 
that of the Governor, who was mounted instantly on another. 
From thirty to forty natives fell by the lance ; the rest escaped 



1539] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 159 

into two very large ponds, situated some way apart, wherein 
they swam about; and, being surrounded by the Christians, 
they were shot at with crossbow and arquebuse, although to 
no purpose, because of the long distance they were off. 

At night, one of the lakes was ordered to be guarded, the 
people not being sufficient to encircle both. The Indians, in 
attempting to escape in the dark, would come swimming noise- 
lessly to the shore, with a leaf of water-lily on the head, that 
they might pass unobserved; when those mounted, at sight 
of any ruffle on the surface, would dash into the water up to 
the breasts of the horses, and the natives would again retire. 
In such way passed the night, neither party taking any rest. 
Juan Ortiz told them that, as escape was impossible, they 
would do well to give up ; which they did, driven by extreme 
chillness of the water; and one after another, as cold over- 
powered, called out to him, asking not to be killed — that he 
was coming straightway to put himself in the hands of the 
Governor. At four o'clock in the morning they had all sur- 
rendered, save twelve of the principal men, who, as of more dis- 
tinction and more valiant than the rest, preferred to die rather 
than yield: then the Indians of Paracoxi, who were going 
about unshackled, went in after them, swimming, and pulled 
them out by the hair. They were all put in chains, and, on 
the day following, were divided among the Christians for their 
service. 

While captives, these men determined to rebel, and gave the 
lead to an interpreter, one reputed brave, that when the Gov- 
ernor might come near to speak with him, he should strangle 
him ; but no sooner was the occasion presented, and before his 
hands could be thrown about the neck of Soto, his purpose was 
discovered, and he received so heavy a blow from him in the 
nostrils, that they gushed with blood. The Indians all rose to- 
gether. He who could only catch up a pestle from a mortar, as 
well as he who could grasp a weapon, equally exerted himself to 
kill his master, or the first one he met ; and he whose fortune 
it was to light on a lance, or a sword, handled it in a manner 
as though he had been accustomed to use it all his days. One 



160 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1539 

Indian, in the public yard of the town, with blade in hand, 
fought like a bull in the arena, until the halberdiers of the 
Governor, arriving, put an end to him. Another got up, with 
a lance, into a maize crib, made of cane, called by Indians bar- 
bacoa, and defended the entrance with the uproar of ten men, 
until he was stricken down with a battle-axe. They who were 
subdued may have been in all two hundred men: some of 
the youngest the Governor gave to those who had good chains 
and were vigilant ; all the rest were ordered to execution, and, 
being bound to a post in the middle of the town yard, they 
were shot to death with arrows by the people of Paracoxi. 



Chapter 12 

How the Governor arrived at Palache, and was informed that 
there was much gold inland. 

On the twenty-third day of September the Governor left 
Napetaca, and went to rest at a river, where two Indians 
brought him a deer from the cacique of Uzachil; and the 
next day, having passed through a large town called Hapaluya, 
he slept at Uzachil. He found no person there ; for the inhab- 
itants, informed of the deaths at Napetaca, dared not remain. 
In the town was found their food, much maize, beans, and 
pumpkins, on which the Christians lived. The maize is like 
coarse millet; the pumpkins are better and more savory 
than those of Spain. 

Two captains having been sent in opposite directions, in 
quest of Indians, a hundred men and women were taken, one or 
two of whom were chosen out for the Governor, as was always 
customary for officers to do after successful inroads, dividing 
the others among themselves and companions. They were led 
off in chains, with collars about the neck, to carry luggage 
and grind corn, doing the labor proper to servants. Some- 
times it happened that, going with them for wood or maize, 
they would kill the Christian, and flee, with the chain on, which 
others would file at night with a splinter of stone, in the place 



1539] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 161 

of iron, at which work, when caught, they were punished, as 
a warning to others, and that they might not do the like. 
The women and youths, when removed a hundred leagues 
from their country, no longer cared, and were taken along 
loose, doing the work, and in a very little time learning the 
Spanish language. 

From Uzachil the Governor went towards Apalache, and at 
the end of two days' travel arrived at a town called Axille. 
After that, the Indians having no knowledge of the Christians, 
they were come upon unawares, the greater part escaping, 
nevertheless, because there were woods near town. The next 
day, the first of October, the Governor took his departure in 
the morning, and ordered a bridge to be made over a river 
which he had to cross. The depth there, for a stone's throw, 
was over the head, and afterward the water came to the waist, 
for the distance of a crossbow-shot, where was a growth of 
tall and dense forest, into which the Indians came, to ascertain 
if they could assail the men at work and prevent a passage; 
but they were dispersed by the arrival of crossbowmen, and 
some timbers being thrown in, the men gained the opposite 
side and secured the way. On the fourth day of the week, 
Wednesday of St. Francis, 1 the Governor crossed over and 
reached Uitachuco, a town subject to Apalache, where he slept. 
He found it burning, the Indians having set it on fire. 

Thenceforward the country was well inhabited, producing 
much corn, the way leading by many habitations like villages. 
Sunday, the twenty-fifth of October, 2 he arrived at the town 
of Uzela, 3 and on Monday at Anhayca Apalache, where the 
lord of all that country and province resided. The camp-mas- 
ter, whose duty it is to divide and lodge the men, quartered 
them about the town, at the distance of half a league to a 

1 St. Francis's day is the fourth of the month (October), but it was not 
Wednesday in 1539. Ranjel says that the crossing was finished on Friday, 
October 3. 

2 This should be Sunday, October 5. October 25, 1539, came on Satur- 
day. 

3 Calahuchi, according to Ranjel. The modern name may be Chatta- 
huchi. 



162 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1539 

league apart. There were other towns which had much maize, 
pumpkins, beans, and dried plums of the country, whence 
were brought together at Anhayca Apalache what appeared 
to be sufficient provision for the winter. These ameixas 1 are 
better than those of Spain, and come from trees that grow in 
the fields without being planted. 

Informed that the sea was eight leagues distant, the Gov- 
ernor directly sent a captain thither, with cavalry and infantry, 
who found a town called Ochete, eight leagues on the way; 
and, coming to the coast, he saw where a great tree had been 
felled, the trunk split up into stakes, and with the limbs made 
into mangers. He found also the skulls of horses. With these 
discoveries he returned, and what was said of Narvaez was 
believed to be certain, that he had there made boats, 2 in which 
he left the country, and was lost in them at sea. Presently 
Juan de Anasco made ready to go to the port of Espiritu 
Santo, taking thirty cavalry, with orders from the Governor 
to Calderon, who had remained there, that he should abandon 
the town, and bring all the people to Apalache. 

In Uzachill, and other towns on the way, Anasco found 
many people who had already become careless ; still, to avoid 
detention, no captures Were made, as it was not well to give 
the Indians sufficient time to come together. He went through 
the towns at night, stopping at a distance from the population 
for three or four hours, to rest, and at the end of ten days 
arrived at the port. He despatched two caravels to Cuba, in 
which he sent to Dona Ysabel twenty women brought by him 
from Ytara and Potano, near Cale ; and, taking with him the 
foot-soldiers in the brigantines, from point to point along 
the coast by sea, he went towards Palache. Calderon with the 
cavalry, and some crossbowmen of foot, went by land. The 
Indians at several places beset him, and wounded some of the 
men. On his arrival, the Governor ordered planks and spikes 

1 This word means plums, but when applied to the American fruit, it 
has reference to the persimmon. 

2 The bay where Narvaez built his brigantines was known to the Span- 
iards as Bahia de Caballos, or Horse Bay. The modern name is Bay 
Ocklockonee. 



1539] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 163 

to be taken to the coast for building a piragua, into which 
thirty men entered well armed from the bay, going to and 
coming from sea, waiting the arrival of the brigantines, and 
sometimes fighting with the natives, who went up and down 
the estuary in canoes. On Saturday, the twenty-ninth of 
November, in a high wind, an Indian passed through the sen- 
tries undiscovered, and set fire to the town, two portions of 
which, in consequence, were instantly consumed. 

On Sunday, the twenty-eighth of December, Juan de Afia- 
sco arrived ; and the Governor directed Francisco Maldonado, 
captain of infantry, to run the coast to the westward with 
fifty men, and look for an entrance; proposing to go himself 
in that direction by land on discoveries. The same day, eight 
men rode two leagues about the town in pursuit of Indians, 
who had become so bold that they would venture up within 
two crossbow-shot of the camp to kill our people. Two were 
discovered engaged in picking beans, and might have escaped, 
but a woman being present, the wife of one of them, they 
stood to fight. Before they could be killed, three horses were 
wounded, one of which died in a few 'days. Calderon going 
along the coast near by, the Indians came out against him 
from a wood, driving him from his course, and capturing from 
many of his company a part of their indispensable subsistence. 

Three or four days having elapsed beyond the time set for 
the going and return of Maldonado, the Governor resolved that, 
should he not appear at the end of eight days, he would go 
thence and wait no longer ; when the captain arrived, bringing 
with him an Indian from a Province called Ochus, sixty leagues 
from Apalache, and the news of having found a sheltered port 
with a good depth of water. The Governor was highly pleased, 
hoping to find a good country ahead ; and he sent Maldonado 
to Havana for provisions, with which to meet him at that port 
of his discovery, to which he would himself come by land ; but 
should he not reach there that summer, then he directed him 
to go back to Havana and return there the next season to 
await him, as he would make it his express object to march in 
quest of Ochus. 



164 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1540 

Francisco Maldonado went, and Juan de Guzman remained 
instead, captain of his infantry. Of the Indians taken in 
Napetuca, the treasurer, Juan Gaytan, brought a youth with 
him, who stated that he did not belong to that country, but 
to one afar in the direction of the sun's rising, from which he 
had been a long time absent visiting other lands; that its 
name was Yupaha, and was governed by a woman, the town 
she lived in being of astonishing size, and many neighboring 
lords her tributaries, some of whom gave her clothing, others 
gold in quantity. He showed how the metal was taken from 
the earth, melted, and refined, exactly as though he had seen 
it all done, or else the Devil had taught him how it was; so 
that they who knew aught of such matters declared it impossi- 
ble that he could give that account without having been an 
eye-witness ; and they who beheld the signs he made, credited 
all that was understood as certain. 



Chapter 13 

How the Governor went from Apalache in quest of Yupaha, and 

what befell him. 

On Wednesday, the third of March, in the year 1540, the 
Governor left Anhaica Apalache to seek Yupaha. He had 
ordered his men to go provided with maize for a march through 
sixty leagues of desert. The cavalry carried their grain on the 
horses, and the infantry theirs on the back; because the 
Indians they brought with them for service, being naked and 
in chains, had perished in great part during the winter. On 
the fourth day of the journey they arrived at a deep river, 1 
where a piragua was made; and, in consequence of the vio- 
lence of the current, a cable of chains was extended from shore 
to shore, along which the boat passed, and the horses were 
drawn over, swimming thereto, by means of a windlass to the 
other side. 

A day and a half afterwards, they arrived at a town by the 

1 Probably Flint River. 



1540] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 165 

name of Capachiqui, and on Friday, the eleventh/ the inhab- 
itants were found to have gone off. The following day, five 
Christians, going in the rear of the camp to search for mortars, 
in which the natives beat maize, went to some houses sur- 
rounded by a thicket, where many Indians lurked as spies, an 
equal number of whom, separating from the rest, set upon 
our men, one of whom fled back, crying out to arms. When 
they who could first answer to the call reached the spot, they 
found one of the Christians killed, and the three others badly 
wounded, the Indians fleeing into a sheet of water, full of 
woods, into which the horses could not go. The Governor left 
Capachiqui, passing through a desert; and on Wednesday, 
the twenty-first 2 of the month, came to Toalli. 

The houses of this town were different from those behind, 
which were covered with dry grass ; thenceforward they were 
roofed with cane, after the fashion of tile. They are kept very 
clean: some have their sides so made of clay as to look like 
tapia. 3 Throughout the cold country every Indian has a win- 
ter house, plastered inside and out, with a very small door, 
which is closed at dark, and a fire being made within, it remains 
heated like an oven, so that clothing is not needed during the 
night-time. He has likewise a house for summer, and near it 
a kitchen, where fire is made and bread baked. Maize is kept 
in a barbacoa, which is a house with wooden sides, like a room, 
raised aloft on four posts, and has a floor of cane. The differ- 
ence between the houses of the masters, or principal men, and 
those of the common people is that, besides being larger than 
the others, they have deep balconies on the front side, with 
cane seats, like benches; and about are many barbacoas, in 
which they bring together the tribute their people give them 
of maize, skins of deer, and blankets of the country. These 
are like shawls, some of them made from the inner bark of 

1 This should be Thursday the eleventh, which was the day on which 
they arrived at the first town in Capachiqui. Capachiqui was the second 
town in that province, according to Ranjel. 

2 Wednesday was the twenty-fourth, but they arrived at Toalli early on 
the morning of the twenty-third, according to Ranjel. 

3 Mud walls. 



166 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1540 

trees, and others of a grass resembling nettle, which, by tread- 
ing out, becomes like flax. The women use them for covering, 
wearing one about the body from the waist downward, and 
another over the shoulder, with the right arm left free, after 
the manner of the Gypsies : the men wear but one, which they 
carry over the shoulder in the same way, the loins being cov- 
ered with a bragueiro of deer-skin, after the fashion of the 
woollen breech-cloth that was once the custom of Spain. The 
skins are well dressed, the color being given to them that is 
wished, and in such perfection, that, when of vermilion, they 
look like very fine red broadcloth; and when black, the sort 
in use for shoes, they are of the purest. The same hues are 
given to blankets. 

The Governor left Toalli on the twenty-fourth day of 
March, and arrived on Thursday, in the evening, at a little 
stream x where a small bridge was made, and the people passed 
to the opposite side. Benito Fernandes, a Portuguese, fell off 
from it, and was drowned. So soon as the Governor had 
crossed, he found a town, a short way on, by the name of 
Achese, the people of which, having had no knowledge of the 
Christians, plunged into a river; nevertheless, some men and 
women were taken, among whom was found one who under- 
stood the youth, the guide to Yupaha, which rather confirmed 
what he stated, as they had come through regions speaking 
different languages, some of which he did not understand. 
By one of the Indians taken there, the Governor sent to call 
the cacique from the farther side of the river, who, having 
come to him, thus spoke : 

Very High, Powerful, and Good Master: 

The things that seldom happen bring astonishment. Think, 
then, what must be the effect on me and mine, of the sight of you 
and your people, whom we have at no time seen, astride the fierce 
brutes, your horses, entering with such speed and fury into my 

1 Before arriving at this stream they crossed a very broad river, accord- 
ing to Ranjel, which Biedma says was the first river flowing to the east. 
This was the Ocmulgee River. 



1540] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 167 

country, that we had no tidings of your coming — things so alto- 
gether new, as to strike awe and terror to our hearts, which it was 
not nature to resist, so that we should receive you with the sobriety 
due to so kingly and famous a lord. Trusting to your greatness 
and personal qualities, I hope no fault will be found in me, and 
that I shall rather receive favors, of which one is that with my 
person, my country, and my vassals, you will do as with your own 
things; and another, that you tell me who you are, whence you 
come, whither you go, and what it is you seek, that I may the bet- 
ter serve you. 

The Governor responded, that he greatly thanked him for 
his good-will, as much so as though he had given him a great 
treasure. He told him that he was the child of the Sun, coming 
from its abode, and that he was going about the country, seek- 
ing for the greatest prince there, and the richest province. 
The cacique stated that farther on was a great lord, whose 
territory was called Ocute. He gave him a guide, who under- 
stood the language, to conduct him thither ; and the Governor 
commanded his subjects to be released. A high cross, made 
of wood, was set up in the middle of the town-yard ; and, as 
time did not allow more to be done, the Indians were instructed 
that it was put there to commemorate the suffering of Christ, 
who was God and man ; that he had created the skies and the 
earth, and had suffered for the salvation of all, and therefore, 
that they should revere that sign; and they showed by their 
manner that they would do so. 

The Governor set out on the first day of April, and advanced 
through the country of the chief, along up a river, the shores 
of which were very populous. On the fourth he went through 
the town of Altamaca, 1 and on the tenth arrived at Ocute. 
The cacique sent him a present, by two thousand Indians, of 
many rabbits and partridges, maize bread, many dogs, and 
two turkeys. On account of the scarcity of meat, the dogs 
were as much esteemed by the Christians as though they had 
been fat sheep. There was such want of meat and salt that 

1 Altamaha, according to Ranjel. Before arriving at this place they 
crossed a great river which was either the Oconee or the Altamaha River. 



168 SPANISH EXPLOEEES [1540 

oftentimes, in many places, a sick man had nothing for his 
nourishment, and was wasting away to bone, of some ail that 
elsewhere might have found a remedy ; and would die of pure 
debility, saying : "Now, if I had but a slice of meat, or only a 
few lumps of salt, I should not thus die." 

| The Indians never lacked meat. With arrows they get 
abundance of deer, turkeys, rabbits, and other wild animals, 
being very skilful in killing game, which the Christians were 
not ; and even if they had been, there was not the opportunity 
for it, they being on the march the greater part of their time ; 
nor did they, besides, ever dare to straggle off. Such was the 
craving for meat, that when the six hundred men who followed 
Soto arrived at a town, and found there twenty or thirty 
dogs, he who could get sight of one and kill him, thought he 
had done no little ; and he who proved himself so active, if his 
captain knew of it, and he forgot to send him a quarter, would 
show his displeasure, and make him feel it in the watches, or 
in any matter of labor that came along, with which he could 
bear upon him. 

On Monday, the twelfth of April, the Governor took his 
departure, the cacique of Ocute giving him four hundred tame- 
mes, the Indians that carry burdens. He passed through a 
town, the lord of which was called Cofaqui, and came to the 
province of another, named Patofa, who, being at peace with 
the chief of Ocute and other neighboring lords, had heard of 
the Governor for a long time, and desired to see him. He went 
to call on him, and made this speech : 

Powerful Lord: 

Not without reason, now, will I ask that some light mishap 
befall me, in return for so great good fortune, and deem my lot a 
happy one; since I have come to what I most wished in life, to 
behold and have the opportunity in some way to serve you. Thus 
the tongue casts the shadow of the thought; but I, nevertheless, 
am as unable to produce the perfect image of my feelings as to 
control the appearances of my contentment. By what circum- 
stance has this your land, which I govern, deserved to be seen by 
one so superior and excellent that all on earth should obey and 



1540] EXPEDITION OF HEBNAKDO DE SOTO 169 

serve him [Soto] as a prince ? And those who here inhabit being 
so insignificant, how can they forget, in receiving this vast enjoy- 
ment, that, in the order of things, will follow upon it some great 
adversity? If we are held worthy of being yours, we can never 
be other than favored, nor less than protected in whatsoever is 
reasonable and just; for they that fail of deserving either, with 
the name of men can only be considered brutes. From the depth 
of my heart, and with the respect due to such a chief, I make mine 
offer; and pray that, in return for so sincere good-will, you dis- 
pose of me, my country, and my vassals. 

The Governor answered that his offers and good-will, 
shown in works, would greatly please him, and that he should 
ever bear them in memory to honor and favor him as he would 
a brother. From this province of Patofa, back to the first 
cacique we found at peace, a distance of fifty leagues, the 
country is abundant, picturesque, and luxuriant, well watered, 
and having good river margins ; thence to the harbor of Espi- 
ritu Santo, where we first arrived, the land of Florida, which 
may be three hundred leagues in length, a little more or less, 
is light, the greater part of it of pine-trees, and low, having 
many ponds; and in places are high and dense forests, into 
which the Indians that were hostile betook themselves, where 
they could not be found; nor could horses enter there, which, 
to the Christians, was the loss of the food they carried away, 
and made it troublesome to get guides. 



Chapter 14 

How the Governor left the province of Patofa, marching into a 
desert country, where he, with his people, became ex- 
posed to great peril and underwent severe privation. 

In the town of Patofa, the youth, whom the Governor 
brought with him for guide and interpreter, began to froth 
at the mouth, and threw himself on the ground as if he were 
possessed of the Devil. An exorcism being said over him, 
the fit went off. He stated that four days' journey from there, 



170 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1540 

towards the sunrise, was the province he spoke of : the Indians 
at Patofa said that they knew of no dwellings in that direction, 
but that towards the northwest there was a province called 
Coga, a plentiful country having very large towns. The 
cacique told the Governor that if he desired to go thither he 
would give him a guide and Indians to carry burdens, and if 
he would go in the direction pointed out by the youth, he 
would furnish him with everything necessary for that also. 

With words of love, and tendering each other services, 
they parted, the Governor receiving seven hundred tamemes. 
He took maize for the consumption of four days, and marched 
by a road that, gradually becoming less, on the sixth day dis- 
appeared. Led by the youth, they forded two rivers, 1 each 
the breadth of two shots of a crossbow, the water rising 
to the stirrups of the saddles, and passing in a current so power- 
ful, that it became necessary for those on horseback to stand 
one before another, that they on foot, walking near, might 
cross along above them : then came to another 2 of a more vio- 
lent current, and larger, which was got over with more diffi- 
culty, the horses swimming for a lance's length at the coming 
out, into a pine-grove. The Governor menaced the youth, 
motioning that he would throw him to the dogs for having lied 
to him in saying that it was four days' journey, whereas they 
had travelled nine, each day of seven or eight leagues; and 
that the men and horses had become very thin, because of the 
sharp economy practised with the maize. The youth declared 
that he knew not where he was. Fortunately for him, at the 
time, there was not another whom Juan Ortiz understood, or 
he would have been cast to the dogs. 

The Governor, leaving the camp among the pine-trees, 
marched that day, with some cavalry and infantry, five or six 
leagues, looking for a path, and came back at night very cast 
down, not having found any sign of inhabitants. The next 
day there was a variety of opinion about the course proper to 
take, whether to return or do otherwise. The country through 

1 The Great Ohoopee and Cannouchee rivers. 
3 The Ogeechee River. 



1540] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 171 

which they had come remained wasted and without maize; 
the grain they had so far brought with them was spent; the 
beasts, like the men, were become very lean ; and it was held 
very doubtful whether relief was anywhere to be found : more- 
over, it was the opinion that they might be beaten by any 
Indians whatsoever who should venture to attack them, so 
that continuing thus, whether by hunger or in strife, they must 
inevitably be overcome. The Governor determined to send 
thence in all directions on horseback, in quest of habitations ; 
and the next day he despatched four captains to as many points, 
with eight of cavalry to each. They came back at night lead- 
ing their beasts by the bridle, unable to carry their masters, or 
driven before them with sticks, having found no road, nor any 
sign of a settlement. He sent other four again the next day, 
with eight of cavalry apiece, men who could swim, that they 
might cross any ponds and rivers in the way, the horses being 
chosen of the best that were; Baltasar de Gallegos ascending 
by the river, Juan de Anasco going down it, Alfonso Romo and 
Juan Rodriguez Lobillo striking into the country. 

The Governor had brought thirteen sows to Florida, which 
had increased to three hundred swine ; and the maize having 
failed for three or four days, he ordered to be killed daily, 
for each man, half a pound of pork, on which small allowance, 
and some boiled herbs, the people with much difficulty lived. 
There being no food to give to the Indians of Patofa, they were 
dismissed, though they still wished to keep with the Christians 
in their extremity, and showed great regret at going back be- 
fore leaving them in a peopled country. Juan de Anasco 
came in on Sunday, in the afternoon, bringing with him a 
woman and a youth he had taken, with the report that he 
had found a small town twelve or thirteen leagues off; at 
which the Governor and his people were as much delighted 
as though they had been raised from death to life. 

On Monday, the twenty-sixth of April, the Governor set 
out for Aymay, a town to which the Christians gave the name 
of Socorro. At the foot of a tree, in the camp, they buried a 
paper, and in the bark, with a hatchet, they cut these words : 



172 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1540 

"Dig here; at the root of this pine you will find a letter;" 
and this was so fixed that the captains, who had gone in quest 
of an inhabited country, should learn what the Governor had 
done and the direction he had taken. There was no other road 
than the one Juan de Anasco had made moving along through 
the woods. 

On Monday the Governor arrived at the town ; with those 
the best mounted, all riding the hardest possible ; some sleep- 
ing two leagues off, others three and four, each as he was able 
to travel and his strength held out. A barbacoa was found full 
of parched meal and some maize, which were distributed by 
allowance. Four Indians were taken, not one of whom would 
say anything else than that he knew of no other town. The 
Governor ordered one of them to be burned; and thereupon 
another said, that two days' journey from there was a province 
called Cutifachiqui. 1 

On Wednesday the three captains came up : they had found 
the letter and followed on after the rest. From the command 
of Juan Rodriguez two men remained behind, their horses 
having given out, for which the Governor reprimanded him 
severely, and sent him to bring them. While they should be 
coming on he set out for Cutifachiqui, capturing three Indians 
in the road, who stated that the mistress of that country had 
already information of the Christians, and was waiting for 
them in a town. He sent to her by one of them, offering his 
friendship and announcing his approach. Directly as the 
Governor arrived, four canoes came towards him, in one of 
which was a kinswoman of the Cacica, who, coming near, ad- 
dressed him in these words : 

Excellent Lord: 

My sister sends me to salute you, and to say, that the reason 
why she has not come in person is, that she has thought to serve 

1 From the wording of the Ranjel narrative, Aymay was on the east side 
of the Savannah River and Cutifachiqui on the west side. The latter town 
was not at Silver Bluff, South Carolina, as commonly thought, but further 
down the river. Cofitachequi (as Ranjel spells it) is proper Creek, and 
means Dog-wood Town. 



1540] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 173 

you better by remaining to give orders on the other shore; and 
that, in a short time, her canoes will all be here, in readiness to 
conduct you thither, where you may take your repose and be 
obeyed. 

The Governor thanked her, and she returned to cross the 
river. After a little time the Cacica came out of the town, 
seated in a chair, which some principal men having borne to the 
bank, she entered a canoe. Over the stern was spread an awn- 
ing, and in the bottom lay extended a mat where were two 
cushions, one above the other, upon which she sate ; and she 
was accompanied by her chief men, in other canoes, with 
Indians. She approached the spot where the Governor was, 
and, being arrived, thus addressed him: 

Excellent Lord: 

Be this coming to these your shores most happy. My ability 
can in no way equal my wishes, nor my services become the merits 
of so great a prince; nevertheless, good wishes are to be valued 
more than all the treasures of the earth without them. With sin- 
cerest and purest good-will I tender you my person, my lands, my 
people, and make you these small gifts. 

The Cacica presented much clothing of the country, from the 
shawls and skins that came in the other boats; and drawing 
from over her head a large string of pearls, she threw them 
about his neck, exchanging with him many gracious words of 
friendship and courtesy. She directed that canoes should 
come to the spot, whence the Governor and his people passed 
to the opposite side of the river. So soon as he was lodged in the 
town, a great many turkeys were sent to him. The country 
was delightful and fertile, having good interval lands upon the 
streams ; the forest was open, with abundance of walnut and 
mulberry trees. The sea was stated to be distant two days' 
travel. About the place, from half a league to a league off, 
were large vacant towns, grown up in grass, that appeared as 
if no people had lived in them for a long time. The Indians 
said that, two years before, there had been a pest in the land, 
and the inhabitants had moved away to other towns. In the 



174 SPANISH EXPLOEEES [1540 

barbacoas were large quantities of clothing, shawls of thread, 
made from the bark of trees, and others of feathers, white, gray, 
vermilion, and yellow, rich and proper for winter. There were 
also many well-dressed deer-skins, of colors drawn over with 
designs, of which had been made shoes, stockings, and hose. 
The Cacica, observing that the Christians valued the pearls, 
told the Governor that, if he should order some sepulchres 
that were in the town to be searched, he would find many; 
and if he chose to send to those that were in the uninhabited 
towns, he might load all his horses with them. They examined 
those in the town, and found three hundred and fifty pounds' 
weight of pearls, and figures of babies and birds made of them. 

The inhabitants are brown of skin, well formed and pro- 
portioned. They are more civilized than any people seen in 
all the territories of Florida, wearing clothes and shoes. This 
country, according to what the Indians stated, had been very 
populous. It appeared that the youth who was the guide had 
heard of it ; and what was told him he declared to have seen, 
and magnified such parts as he chose, to suit his pleasure. He 
told the Governor that they had begun to enter upon the coun- 
try he had spoken to him about, which, because of its appear- 
ance, with his being able to understand the language of the 
people, gained for him some credit. He wished to become a 
Christian, and asked to be baptized, which was done, he re- 
ceiving the name of Pedro; and the Governor commanded 
the chain to be struck off that he had carried until then. 

In the town were found a dirk and beads that had belonged 
to Christians, who, the Indians said, had many years before 
been in the port, distant two days' journey. He that had been 
there was the Governor-licentiate Ayllon, who came to conquer 
the land, and, on arriving at the port, died, when there followed 
divisions and murders among the chief personages, in quarrels 
as to who should command ; and thence, without knowing any 
thing of the country, they went back to Spain. 

To all it appeared well to make a settlement there, the point 
being a favorable one, to which could come all the ships from 
New Spain, Peru, Sancta Marta, and Tierra-Firme, going to 



1540] EXPEDITION OE HERNANDO DE SOTO 175 

Spain; because it is in the way thither, is a good country, 
and one fit in which to raise supplies ; but Soto, as it was his 
object to find another treasure like that of Atabalipa, lord of 
Peru, would not be content with good lands nor pearls, even 
though many of them were worth their weight in gold (and 
if the country were divided among Christians, more precious 
should those be the Indians would procure than these they 
have, being bored with heat, which causes them to lose their 
hue) : so he answered them who urged him to make a settle- 
ment, that in all the country together there was not support 
for his troops a single month ; that it was necessary to return 
to Ochus, where Maldonado was to wait ; and should a richer 
country not be found, they could always return to that who 
would, and in their absence the Indians would plant their fields 
and be better provided with maize. The natives were asked 
if they had knowledge of any great lord farther on, to which 
they answered, that twelve days' travel thence was a province 
called Chiaha, subject to a chief of Coga. 

The Governor then resolved at once to go in quest of that 
country, and being an inflexible man, and dry of word, who, 
although he liked to know what the others all thought and had 
to say, after he once said a thing he did not like to be opposed, 
and as he ever acted as he thought best, all bent to his will; 
for though it seemed an error to leave that country, when an- 
other might have been found about it, on which all the people 
could have been sustained until the crops had been made and 
the grain gathered, there were none who would say a thing to 
him after it became known that he had made up his mind. 

Chapter 15 

How the Governor went from Cutifachiqui in quest of Coga, and 
what occurred to him on the journey. 

On the third day of May, 1 the Governor set out from 
Cutifachiqui; and, it being discovered that the wish of the 
Cacica was to leave the Christians, if she could, giving them 

1 This should be May 13, according to Ranjel. 



176 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1540 

neither guides nor tamemes, because of the outrages committed 
upon the inhabitants, there never failing to be men of low de- 
gree among the many, who will put the lives of themselves 
and others in jeopardy for some mean interest, the Governor 
ordered that she should be placed under guard and took her 
with him. This treatment, which was not a proper return 
for the hospitable welcome he had received, makes true the 
adage, For well doing, etc. ; and thus she was carried away 
on foot with her female slaves. 

This brought us service in all the places that were passed, 
she ordering the Indians to come and take the loads from town to 
town. We travelled through her territories a hundred leagues, 
in which, according to what we saw, she was greatly obeyed, 
whatsoever she ordered being performed with diligence and 
efficacy. Pedro, the guide, said she was not the suzeraine, 
but her niece, who had come to that town by her command to 
punish capitally some principal Indians who had seized upon 
the tribute; but to this no credit was given, because of the 
falsehoods in which he had been taken, though all was put up 
/ with, from the necessity of having some one whereby to under- 
stand what the Indians said. 

In seven days the Governor arrived at the province of 
Chalaque, 1 the country poorest off for maize of any that was 
seen in Florida, where the inhabitants subsisted on the roots 
of plants that they dig in the wilds, and on the animals they 
destroy there with their arrows. They are very domestic 
people, are slight of form, and go naked. One lord brought the 
Governor two deer-skins as a great gift. Turkeys were abun- 
dant ; in one town they presented seven hundred, and in others 
brought him what they had and could procure. He was de- 
tained in going from this province to that of Xualla 2 five days, 

1 In two days, according to Ranjel. 

2 This town is the Choualla of the Inca and the old Cherokee town of 
Qualla, which was located above the junction of the Tuckaseegee and Oconna- 
Luftee Rivers, in Swain County, North Carolina. From Cofitachequi the 
army took a northerly course, probably following the old Indian and traders' 
trail to old Fort Prince George, in Jackson County, South Carolina, and from 
there to Xualla. 



1540] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 177 

where they found little grain, but remained two days, because 
of the weariness of the men and the leanness of the horses. 

From Ocute to Cutifachiqui are one hundred and thirty 
leagues, of which eighty are desert ; from Cutifa to Xualla are 
two hundred and fifty of mountainous country ; thence to 
Guaxule, the way is over very rough and lofty ridges. 

One day while on this journey, the Cacica of Cutifachi, 
whom the Governor brought with him, as has been stated, to 
the end of taking her to Guaxule, the farthest limit of her terri- 
tories, conducted by her slaves, she left the road, with an ex- 
cuse of going into a thicket, where, deceiving them, she so con- 
cealed herself that for all their search she could not be found. 
She took with her a cane box, like a trunk, called petaca, full 
of unbored pearls, of which those who had the most knowledge 
of their value said they were very precious. They were carried 
for her by one of the women ; and the Governor, not to give 
offence, permitted it so, thinking that in Guaxulle he would beg 
them of her when he should give her leave to depart ; but she 
took them with her, going to Xualla, with three slaves who 
had fled from the camp. A horseman, named Alimamos, who 
remained behind, sick of a fever, wandering out of the way, got 
lost ; and he labored with the slaves to make them leave their 
evil design. Two of them did so, and came on with him to the 
camp. They overtook the Governor, after a journey of fifty 
leagues, in a province called Chiaha ; and he reported that the 
Cacica remained in Xualla, with a slave of Andre de Vas- 
concelos, who would not come with him, and that it was very 
sure they lived together as man and wife, and were to go to- 
gether to Cutifachiqui. 

At the end of five days the Governor arrived at Guaxulle. 1 
The Christians being seen to go after dogs, for their flesh, which 
the Indians do not eat, they gave them three hundred of those 
animals. Little maize was found there, or anywhere upon that 
route. The Governor sent a native with a message to the 

1 The second day after leaving Xualla they camped at the junction of two 
rivers, according to Ranjel. This was probably at the junction of the Little 
Tennessee and Oconna-Luftee rivers. 



178 SPANISH EXPLOEEES [1540 

cacique of Chiaha, begging that he would order some maize to 
be brought together at his town, that he might sojourn there 
some time. He left Guaxulle, and after two days' travel 
arrived at Canasagua, where twenty men came out from the 
town on the road, each laden with a basket of mulberries. 
This fruit is abundant and good, from Cutifachiqui to this 
place, and thence onward in other provinces, as are the walnut 
and the plum (persimmon) ; the trees growing about over the 
country, without planting or pruning, of the size and luxuriance 
they would have were they cultivated in orchards, by hoeing 
and irrigation. Leaving Canasagua, he marched five days 
through a desert. 

Two leagues before he came to Chiaha, fifteen men met 
the Governor, bearing loads of maize, with word from the 
cacique that he waited for him, having twenty barbacoas full ; 
that, moreover, himself, his lands, and his vassals, were sub- 
ject to his orders. On the fifth day of July * the Governor 
entered Chiaha. 2 The cacique received him with great pleas- 
ure, and, resigning to him his dwellings for his residence, thus 
addressed him : — 

Powerful and Excellent Master: 

Fortunate am I that you will make use of my services. Noth- 
ing could happen that would give me so great contentment, or 
which I should value more. From Guaxule you sent to have 
maize for you in readiness to last two months: you have in this 
town twenty barbacoas full of the choicest and the best to be 
found in all this country. If the reception I give is not worthy of 
so great a prince, consider my youth, which will relieve me of 
blame, and receive my good-will, which, with true loyalty and 
pure, shall ever be shown in all things that concern your welfare. 

The Governor answered him, that his gifts and his kindness 
pleased him greatly, and that he should ever consider him to be 
his brother. 

There was abundance of lard in calabashes, drawn like 

1 It should be June 5, according to Ranjel. 

2 Chiaha was evidently on the island at the junction of the Little Ten- 
nessee and Tennessee Rivers, in Loudon County, Tennessee. 



1540] EXPEDITION OF HEBNAKDO DE SOTO 179 

olive oil, which the inhabitants said was the fat of bear. There 
was likewise found much oil of walnuts, which, like the lard, 
was clear and of good taste ; and also a honey-comb, which the 
Christians had never seen before, nor saw afterwards, nor honey, 
nor bees, in all the country. 

The town was isolated, between two arms of a river, and 
seated near one of them. Above it, at the distance of two cross- 
bow-shot, the water divided, and united again a league below. 
The vale between, from side to side, was the width in places of 
a crossbow-shot, and in others of two. The branches were very 
wide, and both were fordable: along their shores were very 
rich meadow-lands, having many maize-fields. 

As the Indians remained at home, no houses were taken 
save those of the chief, in which the Governor lodged; the 
people lived out, wherever there happened to be shelter, each 
man having his tree. In this manner the army lay, the men 
out of order and far apart. The Governor passed it over, as 
the Indians were peaceful, and the weather very calm: the 
people would have suffered greatly had they been required 
to do differently. The horses arrived so worn out, that they 
could not bear their riders from weakness ; for they had come 
all the way with only a little maize to live on, travelling, hun- 
gry and tired, even from beyond the desert of Ocute; so, as 
the greater part of them were unfit to be mounted, even in 
the necessary case of battle, they were turned out at night to 
graze, about a quarter of a league from the camp. The Chris- 
tians were greatly exposed, so much so that if at that time the 
Indians had set upon them, they would have been in bad way 
to defend themselves. 

The duration of the sojourn was thirty days, in which time, 
the soil being covered with verdure, the horses fattened. At 
the departure, in consequence of the importunity of some who 
wanted more than was in reason, the Governor asked thirty 
women of the chief for slaves, who replied that he would confer 
with his principal men; when one night, before giving an an- 
swer, all went off from the town with their women and children. 
The next day, he having made up his mind to go in search of 



180 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1540 

them, the cacique arrived, and, approaching, thus addressed 
him: — 

Powerful Lord : 

Because of my shame, and out of fear of you, discovering that 
my subjects, contrary to my wishes, had chosen to absent them- 
selves, I left without your permission ; but, finding the error of my 
way, I have returned like a true vassal, to put myself in your power, 
that you may do with my person as shall seem best to you. My 
people will not obey me, nor do any thing that an uncle of mine 
does not command : he governs this country, in my place, until I 
shall be of mature age. If you would pursue and punish them for 
disobedience, I will be your guide, since my fate at present forbids 
me doing more. 

The Governor then, with thirty mounted men and as many 
footmen, went in search of the people. Passing by the towns 
of some of the chiefs who had gone off, he cut down and de- 
stroyed the great maize-fields ; and going along up the stream 
where the natives were, on an islet, to which the cavalry could 
not go, he sent word to them, by an Indian, that they should 
put away all their fears, and, returning to their abodes, give 
him tamemes, as had been done all the way along, since he 
did not wish to have women, finding how very dear they were 
to them. The Indians judged it well to come and make their 
excuses to him, so they all went back to the town. 

A cacique of Acoste, who came to see the Governor, after 
tendering his services, and they had exchanged compliments 
and proffers of friendship, was asked if he had any information 
of a rich land ; he answered yes : that towards the north there 
was a province called Chisca, and that a forge was there for 
copper, or other metal of that color, though brighter, having a 
much finer hue, and was to appearances much better, but was 
not so much used, for being softer ; which was the statement 
that had been given in Cutifachiqui, where we had seen some 
chopping-knives that were said to have a mixture of gold. As 
the country on the way was thinly peopled, and it was said 
there were mountains over which the beasts could not go, the 



1540] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 181 

Governor would not march directly thither, but judged that, 
keeping in an inhabited territory, the men and animals would 
be in better condition, while he would be more exactly in- 
formed of what there was, until he should turn to it through the 
ridges and a region which he could more easily travel. He 
sent two Christians to the country of Chisca, by Indians who 
spoke the language, that they might view it, and were told that 
he would await their return at Chiaha for what they should 
have to say. 

Chapter 16 

How the Governor left Chiaha, and, having run a hazard of 
falling by the hands of the Indians, at Acoste, 
escaped by his address: what occurred to him on the 
route, and how he came to Coca. 

When the Governor had determined to move from Chiaha 
towards Coste, 1 he sent for the cacique to come before him, 
and with kind words took his leave, receiving some slaves as a 
gift, which pleased him. In seven days the journey was con- 
cluded. On the second day of July, the camp being pitched 
among the trees, two crossbow-shot distant from the town, he 
went with eight men of his guard toward where the cacique was, 
who received him evidently with great friendship. While they 
were conversing, some infantry went into the town after maize, 
and, not satisfied with what they got, they rummaged and 
searched the houses, taking what they would ; at which conduct 
the owners began to rise and arm ; some of them, with clubs 
in their hands, going at five or six men who had given offence, 
beat them to their satisfaction. The Governor, discovering 
that they were all bent upon some mischief, and himself among 
them with but few Christians about him, turned to escape 
from the difficulty by a stratagem much against his nature, 
clear and reliable as it was, and the more unwillingly as it 
grieved him that an Indian should presume, either with or 

1 This place was located on one of the islands in the Tennessee River, just 
above Chattanooga. 



182 SPANISH EXPLOEERS [1540 

without cause, to offer any indignity to a Christian : he seized 
a stave and took part with the assailants against his own people, 
which while it gave confidence, directly he sent a message 
secretly to the camp, that armed men should approach where 
he was; then taking the chief by the hand, speaking to him 
with kind words, drew him with some principal men away from 
the town, out into an open road in sight of the encampment, 
where cautiously the Christians issued and by degrees sur- 
rounded them. In this manner they were conducted within 
the tents ; and when near his marquee the Governor ordered 
them to be put under guard. He told them that they could 
not go thence without giving him a guide and Indians for car- 
rying loads, nor until the sick men had arrived whom he had 
ordered to come down by the river in canoes from Chiaha, 
and so likewise those he had sent to the province of Chisca. 
He feared that both the one and the other had been killed by 
the Indians. In three days they that went to Chisca got back, 
and related that they had been taken through a country so 
scant of maize, and with such high mountains, that it was im- 
possible the army should march in that direction ; and finding 
the distance was becoming long, and that they should be back 
late, upon consultation they agreed to return, coming from 
a poor little town where there was nothing of value, bringing 
a cow-hide as delicate as a calf-skin the people had given them, 
the hair being like the soft wool on the cross of the merino 
with the common sheep. 

The cacique having furnished the guide and tamemes, 
by permission of the Governor he went his way. The Chris- 
tians left Coste the ninth day of July, and slept that night at 
Tali. 1 The cacique had come from the town to meet the 
Governor on the road, and made him this speech : — 

Excellent Great Prince: 

Worthy are you of being served and obeyed by all the princes 
of the world, for by the face can one judge far of the inner qualities. 

1 Tali was located in the bend of the Tennessee River, just below Chat- 
tanooga. Here they left the river. 



1540] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 183 

Who you are I knew, and also of your power, before your coming 
here. I wish not to draw attention to the lowliness in which I 
stand before you, to make my poor services acceptable and agree- 
able, since, where the strength fails, the will should instead be praised 
and taken. Hence, I dare to ask that you will only consider and 
attend to what you will command me to do here in your country. 

The Governor answered, that his good-will and offer pleased 
him as much as though he had tendered him all the treasures 
of the earth : that he would always be treated by him as a true 
brother, favored and esteemed. The cacique ordered provi- 
sion to be brought for two days' use, the time the Governor 
should be present ; and on his departure, gave him the use of 
two men and four women, who were wanted to carry burdens. 

They travelled six days, passing by many towns subject to 
the cacique of Coca; and, as they entered those territories, 
numerous messengers came from him on the road every day 
to the Governor, some going, others coming, until they arrived 
at 009a, 1 on Friday, the sixteenth of July. The cacique came 
out to receive him at the distance of two crossbow-shot from 
the town, borne in a litter on the shoulders of his principal 
men, seated on a cushion, and covered with a mantle of marten- 
skins, of the size and shape of a woman's shawl : on his head he 
wore a diadem of plumes, and he was surrounded by many 
attendants playing upon flutes and singing. Coming to where 
the Governor was, he made his obeisance, and followed it by 
these words : — 

Powerful Lord, superior to every other of the Earth: 

Although I come but now to meet you, it is a long time since 
I have received you in my heart. That was done the first day I 
heard of you, with so great desire to serve, please, and give you 
contentment, that this, which I express, is nothing in comparison 
with that which is within me. Of this you may be sure, that to have 
received the dominion of the world would not have interested me 
so greatly as the sight of you, nor would I have held it for so great 
a felicity. Do not look for me to offer you that which is your 

1 Co 5a may not have been the Coosa of the last century, which was located 
some two miles north of Childersburg, in Talladega County, Alabama. 



184 SPANISH EXPLOREKS [1540 

own — this person, these lands, these vassals. My only desire is 
to employ myself in commanding these people, that, with all dili- 
gence and befitting respect, they conduct you hence to the town 
in festivity of voices and with flutes, where you will be lodged and 
waited upon by me and them, where all I possess you will do with 
as with your own, and in thus doing you will confer favor. 

The Governor gave him thanks, and with mutual satis- 
faction they walked on toward the place conferring, the 
Indians giving up their habitations by order of their cacique, 
and in which the General and his men took lodging. In the 
barbacoas was a great quantity of maize and beans : the coun- 
try, thickly settled in numerous and large towns, with fields 
between, extending from one to another, was pleasant, and 
had a rich soil with fair river margins. In the woods were many 
plums (persimmons), as well those of Spain as of the country ;. 
and wild grapes on vines growing up into the trees, near the 
streams ; likewise a kind that grew on low vines elsewhere, the 
berry being large and sweet, but, for want of hoeing and dress- 
ing, had large stones. 

It was the practice to keep watch over the caciques that 
none should absent themselves, they being taken along by the 
Governor until coming out of their territories ; for by thus hav- 
ing them the inhabitants would await their arrival in the towns, 
give a guide, and men to carry the loads, who before leaving 
their country would have liberty to return to their homes, as 
sometimes would the tamemes, so soon as they came to the 
domain of any chief where others could be got. The people of 
Coca, seeing their lord was detained, took it amiss, and, going 
off, hid themselves in the scrub, as well those of the town of the 
cacique as those of the towns of the principal men his vassals. 
The Governor despatched four captains in as many directions to 
search for them : many men and women were taken who were 
put in chains. Seeing how much harm they received, and 
how little they gained by going off, they came in, declaring 
that they desired to serve in all that was possible. Of the 
prisoners, some of the chiefs, whom the cacique interceded for, 
were let go ; of the rest, each one took away with him as slaves 



1540] EXPEDITION OE HEBNANDO DE SOTO 185 

those he had in chains, none returning to their country save 
some whose fortune it was to escape, laboring diligently to file 
off their irons at night ; or, while on the mar^h, could slip out 
of the way, observing the carelessness of those who had them in 
charge, sometimes taking off with them in their chains the bur- 
dens and the clothing with which they were laden. 

Chapter 17 
Of how the Governor went from Coga to Tascaluga. 

The Governor rested in Coc,a twenty-five days. On 
Friday, the twentieth of August, he set out in quest of a prov- 
ince called TascaluQa, taking with him the cacique of CoQa. 
The first day he went through Tallimuchase, a great town 
without inhabitants, halting to sleep half a league beyond, 
near a river-bank. The following day he came to Ytaua, a 
town subject to Coca. He was detained six days, because of 
a river near by that was then swollen : so soon as it could be 
crossed he took up his march, and went towards Ullibahali. 
Ten or twelve chiefs came to him on the road, from the cacique 
of that province, tendering his service, bearing bows and 
arrows and wearing bunches of feathers. 

The Governor having arrived at the town with a dozen 
cavalry and several of his guard, he left them at the distance 
of a crossbow-shot and entered the town. He found all the 
Indians with their weapons, and, according to their ways, it 
appeared to him in readiness for action : he understood after- 
wards that they had determined to wrest the cacique of CoQa 
from his power, should that chief have called on them. The 
place was enclosed, and near by ran a small stream. The 
fence, which was like that seen afterwards to other towns, 
was of large timber sunk deep and firmly into the earth, having 
many long poles the size of the arm, placed crosswise to nearly 
the height of a lance, with embrasures, and coated with mud 
inside and out, having loop-holes for archery. 1 The Gov- 

1 Ranjel applies a similar description to an old town on the road, three 
days' march from Toasi or Tuasi. 



186 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1540 

ernor ordered all his men to enter the town. The cacique, 
who at the moment was at a town on the opposite shore, was 
sent for, and he came at once. After some words between him 
and the Governor, proffering mutual service, he gave the tantie- 
mes that were requisite and thirty women as slaves. Man- 
cano, a native of Salamanca, of noble ancestry, having strayed 
off in search of the grapes, which are good here, and plenty, 
was lost. 

The Christians left, and that day they arrived to sleep at a 
town subject to the lord of Ullibahali, and the next day they 
came to pass the night at the town of Toasi, where the in- 
habitants gave the Governor thirty women and the tamemes 
that were wanted. The amount of travel usually performed 
was five or six leagues a day, passing through settled country ; 
and when through desert, all the haste possible was made, to 
avoid the want of maize. From Toasi, passing through some 
towns subject to the lord of the province of Tallise, 1 he jour- 
neyed five days, and arrived at the town the eighteenth day 
of September. 

Tallise was large, situated by the side of a great river, 
other towns and many fields of maize being on the opposite 
shore, the country on both sides having the greatest abundance 
of grain. The inhabitants had gone off. The Governor sent 
to call the cacique, who, having arrived, after an interchange of 
kind words and good promises, lent him forty men. A chief 
came to the Governor in behalf of the cacique of TastaluQa, 2 
and made the following address : 

Veey Powerful, Virtuous, and Esteemed Lord: 

The grand cacique of Tascaluca, my master, sends me to salute 
you. He bids me say, that he is told how all, not without reason, 
are led captive by your perfections and power; that where- 
soever lies your path you receive gifts and obedience, which he 

1 This is probably not the modern town of that name, which was located 
above the elbow of the Tallapoosa River, in Tallapoosa County. 

2 Tascaluca is correct Creek (meaning Black Warrior), and Tastaluca, 
there can be little doubt, is a misspelling; nevertheless we think it better 
to present all the native names in the spellings of the Portuguese original. 



1540] EXPEDITION OF HEENANDO DE SOTO 187 

knows are all your due; and that he longs to see you as much as 
he could desire for the continuance of life. Thus, he sends me to 
offer you his person, his lands, his subjects; to say, that whereso- 
ever it shall please you to go through his territories, you will find 
service and obedience, friendship and peace. In requital of this 
wish to serve you, he asks that you so far favor him as to say 
when you will come; for that the sooner you do so, the greater 
will be the obligation, and to him the earlier pleasure. 

The Governor received and parted with the messenger 
graciously, giving him beads (which by the Indians are not 
much esteemed) and other articles, that he should take them 
to his lord. He dismissed the cacique of CoQa, that he might 
return to his country: he of Tallise gave him the tamemes 
that were needed; and, having sojourned twenty days, the 
Governor set out for Tastaluga. He slept the night at a large 
town called Casiste, and the next day, passing through another, 
arrived at a village in the province of Tastaluc^a ; and the fol- 
lowing night he rested in a wood, two leagues from the town 
where the cacique resided, and where he was then present. He 
sent the master of the camp, Luis de Moscoso, with fifteen cav- 
alry, to inform him of his approach. 

The cacique was at home, in a piazza. Before his dwelling, 
on a high place, was spread a mat for him, upon which two 
cushions were placed, one above another, to which he went 
and sat down, his men placing themselves around, some way 
removed, so that an open circle was formed about him, the 
Indians of the highest rank being nearest to his person. One 
of them shaded him from the sun with a circular umbrella, 
spread wide, the size of a target, with a small stem, and having 
deer-skin extended over cross-sticks, quartered with red and 
white, which at a distance made it look of taffeta, the colors 
were so very perfect. It formed the standard of the chief, 
which he carried into battle. His appearance was full of dig- 
nity : he was tall of person, muscular, lean, and symmetrical. 
He was the suzerain of many territories, and of a numerous 
people, being equally feared by his vassals and the neighbor- 
ing nations. The master of the camp, after he had spoken to 



188 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1540 

him, advanced with his company, their steeds leaping from 
side to side, and at times towards the chief, when he, with great 
gravity, and seemingly with indifference, now and then would 
raise his eyes, and look on as in contempt. 

The Governor approached him, but he made no movement 
to rise ; he took him by the hand, and they went together to 
seat themselves on the bench that was in the piazza. The 
cacique addressed him these words : — 

Powerful Chief: 

Your lordship is very welcome. With the sight of you I re- 
ceive as great pleasure and comfort as though you were an own 
brother whom I dearly loved. It is idle to use many words here, 
as it is not well to speak at length where a few may suffice. The 
greater the will the more estimable the deed; and acts are the 
living witnesses of truth. You shall learn how strong and positive 
is my will, and how disinterested my inclination to serve you. 
The gifts you did me the favor to send I esteem in all their value, 
but most because they were yours. See in what you will command 
me. 

The Governor satisfied the chief with a few brief words of 
kindness. On leaving he determined, for certain reasons, to 
take him along. The second day on the road he came to a 
town called Piache ; x a great river ran near, and the Governor 
asked for canoes. The Indians said they had none, but that 
they could have rafts of cane and dried wood, whereon they 
might readily enough go over, which they diligently set about 
making, and soon completed. They managed them ; and the 
water being calm, the Governor and his men easily crossed. 

From the port of Espiritu Santo to Palache, a march of 
about a hundred leagues, the course was west ; from Apalache 
to Cutifachiqui, which may be four hundred and thirty leagues, 
it was northeast; from thence to Xualla, two hundred and 
fifty leagues, it was towards the north ; and thence to Tasta- 
luQa, which may be some other two hundred and fifty leagues, 

1 From Ranjel's description of this place it is not improbable that Piachi 
was located on the north side of the Black Warrior River. 



1540] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 189 

one hundred and ninety of them were toward the west, going 
to the province of Co9a, and the sixty southwardly, in going 
thence to Tastaluca. 

After crossing the river of Piache, a Christian having gone 
to look after a woman gotten away from him, he had been 
either captured or killed by the natives, and the Governor pressed 
the chief to tell what had been done ; threatening, that should 
the man not appear, he would never release him. The cacique 
sent an Indian thence to Mauilla, the town of a chief, his vassal, 
whither they were going, stating that he sent to give him no- 
tice that he should have provisions in readiness and Indians 
for loads; but which, as afterwards appeared, was a message 
for him to get together there all the warriors in his country. 

The Governor marched three days, the last one of them 
continually through an inhabited region, arriving on Mon- 
day, the eighteenth day of October, at Mauilla. 1 He rode for- 
ward in the vanguard, with fifteen cavalry and thirty infantry, 
when a Christian he had sent with a message to the cacique, 
three or four days before, with orders not to be gone long, and 
to discover the temper of the Indians, came out from the town 
and reported that they appeared to him to be making prepara- 
tion ; for that while he was present many weapons were brought, 
and many people came into the town, and work had gone on 
rapidly to strengthen the palisade. Luis de Moscoso said that, 
since the Indians were so evil disposed, it would be better to 
stop in the woods ; to which the Governor answered, that he 
was impatient of sleeping out, and that he would lodge in the 
town. 

Arriving near, the chief came out to receive him, with many 
Indians singing and playing on flutes, and after tendering his 
services, gave him three cloaks of marten-skins. The Governor 
entered the town with the caciques, seven or eight men of his 
guard, and three or four cavalry, 2 who had dismounted to ac- 
company them ; and they seated themselves in a piazza. The 

1 Mauilla or Mabila may have been located on the prairie north of the 
Black Warrior and east of the Tombigbee River, in Greene County, Alabama. 

2 "Only forty horsemen," according to Ranjel. 



190 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1540 

cacique of TastaluQa asked the Governor to allow him to re- 
main there, and not to weary him any more with walking; 
but, finding that was not to be permitted, he changed his plan, 
and, under pretext of speaking with some of the chiefs, he got 
up from where he sate, by the side of the Governor, and entered 
a house where were many Indians with their bows and arrows. 
The Governor, finding that he did not return, called to him; 
to which the cacique answered that he would not come out, 
nor would he leave that town; that if the Governor wished 
to go in peace, he should quit at once, and not persist in 
carrying him away by force from his country and its depend- 
encies. 

Chapter 18 

How the Indians rose upon the Governor, and what followed upon 

that rising. 

The Governor, in view of the determination and furious 
answer of the cacique, thought to soothe him with soft words ; 
to which he made no answer, but, with great haughtiness and 
contempt, withdrew to where Soto could not see nor speak to 
him. The Governor, that he might send word to the cacique 
for him to remain in the country at his will, and to be pleased 
to give him a guide, and persons to carry burdens, that he 
might see if he could pacify him with gentle words, called to a 
chief who was passing by. The Indian replied, loftily, that 
he would not listen to him. Baltasar de Gallegos, who was 
near, seized him by the cloak of marten-skins that he had on, 
drew it off over his head, and left it in his hands ; whereupon, 
the Indians all beginning to rise, he gave him a stroke with a 
cutlass, that laid open his back, when they, with loud yells, 
came out of the houses, discharging their bows. 

The Governor, discovering that if he remained there they 
could not escape, and if he should order his men, who were 
outside of the town, to come in, the horses might be killed by 
the Indians from the houses and great injury done, he ran out ; 
but before he could get away he fell two or three times, and 



1540] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 191 

was helped to rise by those with him. He and they were all 
badly wounded : within the town five Christians were instantly 
killed. Coming forth, he called out to all his men to get 
farther off, because there was much harm doing from the pali- 
sade. The natives discovering that the Christians were re- 
tiring, and some, if not the greater number, at more than a 
walk, the Indians followed with great boldness, shooting at 
them, or striking down such as they could overtake. Those 
in chains having set down their burdens near the fence while 
the Christians were retiring, the people of Mauilla lifted the 
loads on to their backs, and, bringing them into the town, 
took off their irons, putting bows and arms in their hands, with 
which to fight. Thus did the foe come into possession of all 
the clothing, pearls, and whatsoever else the Christians had 
beside, which was what their Indians carried. Since the na- 
tives had been at peace as far as to that place, some of us, 
putting our arms in the luggage, had gone without any ; and 
two, who were in the town, had their swords and halberds 
taken from them, and put to use. 

The Governor, presently as he found himself in the field, 
called for a horse, and, with some followers, returned and lanced 
two or three of the Indians ; the rest, going back into the town, 
shot arrows from the palisade. Those who would venture on 
their nimbleness came out a stone's throw from behind it, to 
fight, retiring from time to time, when they were set upon. 

At the time of the affray there was a friar, a clergyman, 
a servant of the Governor, and a female slave in the town, who, 
having no time in which to get away, took to a house, and there 
remained until after the Indians became masters of the place. 
They closed the entrance with a lattice door ; and there being 
a sword among them, which the servant had, he put himself 
behind the door, striking at the Indians that would have come 
in ; while, on the other side, stood the friar and the priest, each 
with a club in hand, to strike down the first that should enter. 
The Indians, finding that they could not get in by the door, 
began to unroof the house : at this moment the cavalry were 
all arrived at Mauilla, with the infantry that had been on the 



192 SPANISH EXPLOREES [1540 

march, when a difference of opinion arose as to whether the 
Indians should be attacked, in order to enter the town; for 
the result was held doubtful, but finally it was concluded to 
make the assault. 

Chapter 19 

How the Governor set his men in order of battle and entered the 

town of Manilla. 

So soon as the advance and the rear of the force were come 
up, the Governor commanded that all the best armed should 
dismount, of which he made four squadrons of footmen. The 
Indians, observing how he was going on arranging his men, 
urged the cacique to leave, telling him, as was afterwards made 
known by some women who were taken in the town, that as he 
was but one man, and could fight but as one only, there being 
many chiefs present very skilful and experienced in matters of 
war, any one of whom was able to command the rest, and as 
things in war were so subject to fortune, that it was never cer- 
tain which side would overcome the other, they wished him to 
put his person in safety ; for if they should conclude their lives 
there, on which they had resolved rather than surrender, he 
would remain to govern the land : but for all that they said, 
he did not wish to go, until, from being continually urged, with 
fifteen or twenty of his own people he went out of the town, 
taking with him a scarlet cloak and other articles of the Chris- 
tians' clothing, being whatever he could carry and that seemed 
best to him. 

The Governor, informed that the Indians were leaving the 
town, commanded the cavalry to surround it; and into each 
squadron of foot he put a soldier, with a brand, to set fire to the 
houses, that the Indians might have no shelter. His men being 
placed in full concert, he ordered an arquebuse to be shot off : 
at the signal the four squadrons, at their proper points, com- 
menced a furious onset, and, both sides severely suffering, the 
Christians entered the town. The friar, the priest, and the rest 
who were with them in the house, were all saved, though at the 



1540] EXPEDITION OF HEKNAKDO DE SOTO 193 

cost of the lives of two brave and very able men who went thither 
to their rescue. The Indians fought with so great spirit that 
they many times drove our people back out of the town. The 
struggle lasted so long that many Christians, weary and very 
thirsty, went to drink at a pond near by, tinged with the blood 
of the killed, and returned to the combat. The Governor, wit- 
nessing this, with those who followed him in the returning 
charge of the footmen, entered the town on horseback, which 
gave opportunity to fire the dwellings ; then breaking in upon 
the Indians and beating them down, they fled out of the place, 
the cavalry and infantry driving them back through the gates, 
where, losing the hope of escape, they fought valiantly; and 
the Christians getting among them with cutlasses, they found 
themselves met on all sides by their strokes, when many, dash- 
ing headlong into the flaming houses, were smothered, and, 
heaped one upon another, burned to death. 

They who perished there were in all two thousand five hun- 
dred, a few more or less: of the Christians there fell eighteen, 
among whom was Don Carlos, brother-in-law of the Governor ; 
one Juan de Gamez, a nephew; Men. Rodriguez, a Portuguese ; 
and Juan Vazquez, of Villanueva de Barcarota, men of condi- 
tion and courage ; the rest were infantry. Of the living, one 
hundred and fifty Christians had received seven hundred 
wounds from the arrow ; and God was pleased that they should 
be healed in little time of very dangerous injuries. Twelve 
horses died, and seventy were hurt. The clothing the Chris- 
tians carried with them, the ornaments for saying mass, and 
the pearls, were all burned there; they having set the fire 
themselves, because they considered the loss less than the injury 
they might receive of the Indians from within the houses, where 
they had brought the things together. 

The Governor learning in Mauilla that Francisco Maldonado 
was waiting for him in the port of Ochuse, six days' travel dis- 
tant, he caused Juan Ortiz to keep the news secret, that he 
might not be interrupted in his purpose; because the pearls 
he wished to send to Cuba for show, that their fame might 
raise the desire of coming to Florida, had been lost, and he 



194 SPANISH EXPLOEEES [1540 

feared that, hearing of him without seeing either gold or silver, 
or other thing of value from that land, it would come to have 
such reputation that no one would be found to go there when 
men should be wanted : so he determined to send no news of 
himself until he should have discovered a rich country. 

Chapter 20 

How the Governor set out from Manilla to go to Chicaga, and what 

befell him. 

From the time the Governor arrived in Florida until he 
went from Mauilla, there died one hundred and two Christians, 
some of sickness, others by the hand of the Indians. Because 
of the wounded, he stopped in that place twenty-eight days, 
all the time remaining out in the fields. The country was a 
rich soil, and well inhabited : some towns were very large, and 
were picketed about. The people were numerous everywhere, 
the dwellings standing a crossbow-shot or two apart. 

On Sunday, the eighteenth of November, 1 the sick being 
found to be getting on well, the Governor left Mauilla, taking 
with him a supply of maize for two days. He marched five 
days through a wilderness, arriving in a province called Pafal- 
laya, at the town Taliepataua ; and thence he went to another, 
named Cabusto, 2 near which was a large river, whence the 
Indians on the farther bank shouted to the Christians that 
they would kill them should they come over there. He or- 
dered the building of a piragua within the town, that the natives 
might have no knowledge of it ; which being finished in four 
days, and ready, he directed it to be taken on sleds half a league 
up stream, and in the morning thirty men entered it, well armed. 
The Indians discovering what was going on, they who were' 
nearest went to oppose the landing, and did the best they could ; 

1 This should be the fourteenth, according to Eanjel. 

2 According to Eanjel they crossed a large river at a town called Mocu- 
lixa which was located one-half league from Taliepataua, and recrossed the 
river at Cabusto. Apparently Cabusto was above the Sipsey Eiver and west 
of the Tombigbee Eiver, while Moculixa was below the former and east of 
the latter stream. 



1541] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 195 

but the Christians drawing near, and the piragua being 
about to reach the shore, they fled into some cane-brakes. 
The men on horses went up the river to secure a landing- 
place, to which the Governor passed over, with the others 
that remained. Some of the towns were well stored with 
maize and beans. 

Thence towards Chicaga the Governor marched five days 
through a desert, and arrived at a river, 1 on the farther side 
of which were Indians, who wished to arrest his passage. 
In two days another piragua was made, and when ready he 
sent an Indian in it to the cacique, to say, that if he wished his 
friendship he should quietly wait for him ; but they killed the 
messenger before his eyes, and with loud yells departed. He 
crossed the river the seventeenth of December, and arrived the 
same day at Chicaga, a small town of twenty houses. 2 There 
the people underwent severe cold, for it was already winter, 
and snow fell : the greater number were then lying in the fields, 
it being before they had time to put up habitations. The land 
was thickly inhabited, the people living about over it as they 
do in Mauilla ; and as it was fertile, the greater part being under 
cultivation, there was plenty of maize. So much grain was 
brought together as was needed for getting through with the 
season. 

Some Indians were taken, among whom was one the cacique 
greatly esteemed. The Governor sent an Indian to the cacique 
to say, that he desired to see him and have his friendship. 
He came, and offered him the services of his person, territories, 
and subjects: he said that he would cause two chiefs to visit 
him in peace. In a few days he returned with them, they bring- 
ing their Indians. They presented the Governor one hundred 
and fifty rabbits, with clothing of the country, such as shawls 
and skins. The name of the one was Alimamu, of the other 
Nicalasa. 



1 The east side of the Tombigbee River, and probably in the northern 
part of Monroe County, Mississippi. 

2 This town was located about one mile northwest of Redland, in Pon- 
totoc County, Mississippi. 



196 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1541 

The cacique of ChicaQa came to visit him many times: 
on some occasions he was sent for, and a horse taken, on which 
to bring and carry him back. He made complaint that a 
vassal of his had risen against him, withholding tribute ; and 
he asked for assistance, desiring to seek him in his territory, 
and give him the chastisement he deserved. The whole was 
found to be feigned, to the end that, while the Governor should 
be absent with him, and the force divided, they would attack 
the parts separately — some the one under him, others the 
other, that remained in Chicaca. He went to the town where 
he lived, and came back with two hundred Indians, bearing 
bows and arrows. 

The Governor, taking thirty cavalry and eighty infantry, 
marched to Saquechuma, 1 the province of the chief whom the 
cacique said had rebelled. The town was untenanted, and the 
Indians, for greater dissimulation, set fire to it ; but the people 
with the Governor being very careful and vigilant, as were also 
those that had been left in ChicaQa, no enemy dared to fall 
upon them. The Governor invited the caciques and some chiefs 
to. dine with him, giving them pork to eat, which they so relished, 
although not used to it, that every night Indians would come 
up to some houses where the hogs slept, a crossbow-shot off 
from the camp, to kill and carry away what they could of them. 
Three were taken in the act: two the Governor commanded 
to be slain with arrows, and the remaining one, his hands hav- 
ing first been cut off, was sent to the cacique, who appeared 
grieved that they had given offence, and glad that they were 
punished. 

This chief was half a league from where the Christians were, 
in an open country, whither wandered off four of the cavalry : 
Francisco Osorio, Reynoso, a servant of the Marquis of As- 
torga, and two servants of the Governor, — the one Ribera, 
his page, the other Fuentes, his chamberlain. They took 
some skins and shawls from the Indians, who made great out- 

1 This province was located on the lower Tallahatchie River, and 
the town burned by the Indians, as mentioned by Ranjel, was probably 
located in Tallahatchie County. 



1541] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 197 

cry in consequence, and abandoned their houses. When the 
Governor heard of it, he ordered them to be apprehended, and 
condemned Osorio and Fuentes to death, as principals, and all 
of them to lose their goods. The friars, the priests, and other 
principal personages solicited him to let Osorio live, and moder- 
ate the sentence ; but he would do so for no one. When about 
ordering them to be taken to the town-yard to be beheaded, 
some Indians arrived, sent by the chief to complain of them. 
Juan Ortiz, at the entreaty of Baltasar de Gallegos and others, 
changed their words, telling the Governor, as from the cacique, 
that he had understood those Christians had been arrested on 
his account ; that they were in no fault, having offended him 
in nothing, and that if he would do him a favor, to let them go 
free: then Ortiz said to the Indians, that the Governor had 
the persons in custody, and would visit them with such punish- 
ment as should be an example to the rest. The prisoners were 
ordered to be released. 

So soon as March had come, the Governor, having deter- 
mined to leave Chicaca, asked two hundred tamemes of the 
cacique, who told him that he would confer with his chiefs. 
Tuesday, the eighth, he went where the cacique was, to ask 
for the carriers, and was told that he would send them the next 
day. When the Governor saw the chief, he said to Luis de 
Moscoso that the Indians did not appear right to him ; that a 
very careful watch should be kept that night, to which the 
master of the camp paid little attention. At four o'clock in 
the morning the Indians fell upon them in four squadrons, 
from as many quarters, and directly as they were discovered, 
they beat a drum. With loud shouting, they came in such 
haste, that they entered the camp at the same moment with 
some scouts that had been out ; of which, by the time those in 
the town were aware, half the houses were in flames. That 
night it had been the turn of three horsemen to be of the watch, 
— two of them men of low degree, the least value of any in the 
camp, and the third a nephew of the Governor, who had been 
deemed a brave man until now, when he showed himself as 
great a coward as either of the others; for they all fled, and 



198 SPANISH EXPLOBERS [1541 

the Indians, finding no resistance, came up and set fire 
to the place. They waited outside of the town for the 
Christians, behind the gates, as they should come out of the 
doors, having had no opportunity to put on their arms ; and 
as they ran in all directions, bewildered by the noise, blinded 
by the smoke and the brightness of the flame, knowing not 
whither they were going, nor were able to find their arms, or 
put saddles on their steeds, they saw not the Indians who 
shot arrows at them. Those of the horses that could break 
their halters got away, and many were burned to death in 
the stalls. 

The confusion and rout were so great that each man fled 
by the way that first opened to him, there being none to oppose 
the Indians : but God, who chastiseth his own as he pleaseth, 
and in the greatest wants and perils hath them in his hand, 
shut the eyes of the Indians, so that they could not discern 
what they had done, and believed that the beasts running about 
loose were the cavalry gathering to fall upon them. The 
Governor, with a soldier named Tapia, alone got mounted, 
and, charging upon the Indians, he struck down the first of 
them he met with a blow of the lance, but went over with the 
saddle, because in the haste it had not been tightly drawn, and 
he fell. The men on foot, running to a thicket outside of the 
town, came together there: the Indians imagining, as it was 
dark, that the horses were cavalry coming upon them, as has 
been stated, they fled, leaving only one dead, which was he 
the Governor smote. 

The town lay in cinders. A woman, with her husband, 
having left a house, went back to get some pearls that had re- 
mained there; and when she would have come out again the 
fire had reached the door, and she could not, neither could her 
husband assist her, so she was consumed. Three Christians 
came out of the fire in so bad plight, that one of them died 
in three days from that time, and the two others for a long while 
were carried in their pallets, on poles borne on the shoulders 
of Indians, for otherwise they could not have got along. There 
died in this affair eleven Christians, and fifty horses. One 



1541] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 199 

hundred of the swine remained, four hundred having been 
destroyed, from the conflagration of Mauilla. 

If, by good luck, any one had been able to save a garment 
until then, it was there destroyed. Many remained naked, not 
having had time to catch up their skin dresses. In that place 
they suffered greatly from cold, the only relief being in large 
fires, and they passed the night long in turning, without the 
power to sleep; for as one side of a man would warm, the 
other would freeze. Some contrived mats of dried grass sewed 
together, one to be placed below, and the other above them: 
many who laughed at this expedient were afterwards compelled 
to do the like. The Christians were left so broken up, that 
what with the want of the saddles and arms which had 
been destroyed, had the Indians returned the second night, 
they might, with little effort, have been overpowered. They 
removed from that town to the one where the cacique 
was accustomed to live, because it was in the open field. 1 
In eight days' time they had constructed many saddles 
from the ash, and likewise lances, as good as those made in 
Biscay. 

Chapter 21 

How the Indians returned to attack the Christians, and how the 
Governor went to Alimamu, and they tarried to give 
him battle in the way. 

On Wednesday, 2 the fifteenth day of March, in the year 
1541, eight days having passed since the Governor had been 
living on a plain, half a league from the place where he win- 
tered, after he had set up a forge, and tempered the swords 
which in Chicaga had been burned, and already had made 
many targets, saddles, and lances, on Tuesday, at four o'clock 
in the morning, while it was still dark, there came many Ind- 
ians, formed in three squadrons, each from a different direc- 

1 Chicacilla of the Inca, which was probably located about three and one- 
half miles north of Chicaga. 

2 This should be Tuesday. 



200 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1541 

tion, to attack the camp, when those who watched beat to arms. 
In all haste he drew up his men in three squadrons also, and 
leaving some for the defence of the camp, he went out to meet 
them. The Indians were overthrown and put to flight. The 
ground was plain, and in a condition advantageous to the 
Christians. It was now daybreak ; and but for some disorder, 
thirty or forty more enemies might have been slain. It was 
caused by a friar raising great shouts in the camp, without any 
reason, crying, "To the camp! To the camp!" In conse- 
quence the Governor and the rest went thither, and the Indians 
had time to get away in safety. 

From some prisoners taken, the Governor informed him- 
self of the region in advance. On the twenty-fifth day of 
April he left Chicaca and went to sleep at a small town called 
Alimamu. Very little maize was found; and as it became 
necessary to attempt thence to pass a desert, seven days' 
journey in extent, the next day the Governor ordered that 
three captains, each with cavalry and foot, should take a 
different direction, to get provision for the way. Juan de 
Anasco, the comptroller, went with fifteen horse and forty foot 
on the course the Governor would have to march, and found a 
staked fort, 1 where the Indians were awaiting them. Many 
were armed, walking upon it, with their bodies, legs, and arms 
painted and ochred, red, black, white, yellow, and vermilion 
in stripes, so that they appeared to have on stockings and 
doublet. Some wore feathers, and others horns on the head, 
the face blackened, and the eyes encircled with vermilion, to 
heighten their fierce aspect. So soon as they saw the Christians 
draw nigh they beat drums, and, with loud yells, in great fury 
came forth to meet them. As to Juan de Anasco and others it 
appeared well to avoid them and to inform the Governor, they 
retired over an even ground in sight, the distance of a crossbow- 
shot from the enclosure, the footmen, the crossbowmen, and 
targeteers putting themselves before those on horseback, that 

1 This fort and ford were on the Tallahatchie River, and probably at 
or near New Albany, in Union County, Mississippi. From here the army 
turned to the westward. 



1541] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 201 

the beasts might not be wounded by the Indians, who came 
forth by sevens and eights to discharge their bows at them and 
retire. In sight of the Christians they made a fire, and, taking 
an Indian by the head and feet, pretended to give him many 
blows on the head and cast him into the flames, signifying in 
this way what they would do with the Christians. 

A message being sent with three of the cavalry to the Gov- 
ernor, informing him of this, he came directly. It was his 
opinion that they should be driven from the place. He said 
that if this was not done they would be emboldened to make 
an attack at some other time, when they might do him more 
harm : those on horseback were commanded to dismount, and, 
being set in four squadrons, at the signal charged the Indians. 
They resisted until the Christians came up to the stakes; 
then, seeing that they could not defend themselves, they fled 
through that part near which passed a stream, sending back 
some arrows from the other bank ; and because, at the moment, 
no place was found where the horses might ford, they had time 
to make their escape. Three Indians were killed and many 
Christians wounded, of whom, after a few days, fifteen died on 
the march. Every one thought the Governor committed a 
great fault in not sending to examine the state of the ground 
on the opposite shore, and discover the crossing-place before 
making the attack ; because, with the hope the Indians had of 
escaping unseen in that direction, they fought until they were 
broken ; and it was the cause of their holding out so long to 
assail the Christians, as they could, with safety to themselves. 



Chapter 22 

How the Governor went from Quizquiz, and thence to the River 

Grande. 

Three days having gone by since some maize had been 
sought after, and but little found in comparison with the great 
want there was of it, the Governor became obliged to move at 
once, notwithstanding the wounded had need of repose, to 



202 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1541 

where there should be abundance. He accordingly set out for 
Quizquiz, and marched seven days through a wilderness, hav- 
ing many pondy places, with thick forests, all fordable, how- 
ever, on horseback, except some basins or lakes that were swum. 
He arrived at a town of Quizquiz without being descried, and 
seized all the people before they could come out of their houses. 
Among them was the mother of the cacique ; and the Governor 
sent word to him, by one of the captives, to come and receive 
her, with the rest he had taken. The answer he returned was, 
that if his lordship would order them to be loosed and sent, he 
would come to visit and do him service. 

The Governor, since his men arrived weary, and likewise 
weak, for want of maize, and the horses were also lean, deter- 
mined to yield to the requirement and try to have peace; so 
the mother and the rest were ordered to be set free, and with 
words of kindness were dismissed. The next day, while he 
was hoping to see the chief, many Indians came, with bows 
and arrows, to set upon the Christians, when he commanded 
that all the armed horsemen should be mounted and in readi- 
ness. Finding them prepared, the Indians stopped at the dis- 
tance of a crossbow-shot from where the Governor was, near 
a river-bank, where, after remaining quietly half an hour, six 
chiefs arrived at the camp, stating that they had come to find 
out what people it might be; for that they had knowledge 
from their ancestors that they were to be subdued by a white 
race; they consequently desired to return to the cacique, to 
tell him that he should come presently to obey and serve the 
Governor. After presenting six or seven skins and shawls 
brought with them, they took their leave, and returned with 
the others who were waiting for them by the shore. The 
cacique came not, nor sent another message. 

There was little maize in the place, and the Governor moved 
to another town, half a league from the great river, 1 where it 
was found in sufficiency. He went to look at the river, and 
saw that near it there was much timber of which piraguas 
might be made, and a good situation in which the camp might 

1 The Mississippi. 



1541] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 203 

be placed. He directly moved, built houses, and settled on a 
plain a crossbow-shot from the water, bringing together there 
all the maize of the towns behind, that at once they might 
go to work and cut down trees for sawing out planks to build 
barges. The Indians soon came from up the stream, jumped 
on shore, and told the Governor that they were the vassals 
of a great lord, named Aquixo, who was the suzerain of many 
towns and people on the other shore; and they made known 
from him, that he would come the day after, with all his people, 
to hear what his lordship would command him. 

The next day the cacique arrived, with two hundred canoes 
filled with men, having weapons. They were painted with 
ochre, wearing great bunches of white and other plumes of 
many colors, having feathered shields in their hands, with which 
they sheltered the oarsmen on either side, the warriors standing 
erect from bow to stern, holding bows and arrows. The barge 
in which the cacique came had an awning at the poop, under 
which he sate ; and the like had the barges of the other chiefs ; 
and there, from under the canopy, where the chief man was, the 
course was directed and orders issued to the rest. All came 
down together, and arrived within a stone's cast of the ravine, 
whence the cacique said to the Governor, who was walking 
along the river-bank, with others who bore him company, 
that he had come to visit, serve, and obey him; for he had 
heard that he was the greatest of lords, the most powerful 
on all the earth, and that he must see what he would have him 
do. The Governor expressed his pleasure, and besought 
him to land, that they might the better confer; but the 
chief gave no reply, ordering three barges to draw near, wherein 
was great quantity of fish, and loaves like bricks, made of the 
pulp of plums (persimmons), which Soto receiving, gave him 
thanks and again entreated him to land. 

Making the gift had been a pretext, to discover if any harm 
might be done; but, finding the Governor and his people on 
their guard, the cacique began to draw off from the shore, when 
the crossbowmen who were in readiness, with loud cries shot 
at the Indians, and struck down five or six of them. They 



204 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1541 

retired with great order, not one leaving the oar, even though 
the one next to him might have fallen, and covering them- 
selves, they withdrew. Afterwards they came many times 
and landed; when approached, they would go back to their 
barges. These were fine-looking men, very large and well 
formed; and what with the awnings, the plumes, and the 
shields, the pennons, and the number of people in the fleet, it 
appeared like a famous armada of galleys. 

During the thirty days that were passed there, four piraguas 
were built, into three of which, one morning, three hours be- 
fore daybreak, the Governor ordered twelve cavalry to enter, 
four in each, men in whom he had confidence that they would 
gain the land notwithstanding the Indians, and secure the 
passage, or die: he also sent some crossbowmen of foot with 
them, and in the other piragua, oarsmen, to take them to the 
opposite shore. He ordered Juan de Guzman to cross with the 
infantry, of which he had remained captain in the place of 
Francisco Maldonado ; and because the current was stiff, they 
went up along the side of the river a quarter of a league, and 
in passing over they were carried down, so as to land opposite 
the camp ; but, before arriving there, at twice the distance of 
a stone's cast, the horsemen rode out from the piraguas to an 
open area of hard and even ground, which they all reached 
without accident. 

So soon as they had come to shore the piraguas returned; 
and when the sun was up two hours high, the people had all got 
over. 1 The distance was near half a league : a man standing 
on the shore could not be told, whether he were a man or some- 
thing else, from the other side. The stream was swift, and 
very deep ; the water, always flowing turbidly, brought along 
from above many trees and much timber, driven onward by 
its force. There were many fish of several sorts, the greater 
part differing from those of the fresh waters of Spain, as will 
be told hereafter. 

1 The crossing was made either at Council Bend or Walnut Bend, in 
Tunica County, Mississippi, in a straight line some twenty-five to thirty-eight 
miles below Memphis. 



1541] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 205 

Chapter 23 

How the Governor went from Aquixo to Casqui, and thence to 
Pacaha; and how this country differs from the other. 

The Rio Grande being crossed, the Governor marched a 
league and a half, to a large town of Aquixo, which was aban- 
doned before his arrival. Over a plain thirty Indians were seen 
to draw nigh, sent by the cacique to discover what the Chris- 
tians intended to do, but who fled directly as they saw them. 
The cavalry pursued, killed ten, and captured fifteen. As the 
town toward which the Governor marched was near the river, 
he sent a captain, with the force he thought sufficient, to take 
the piraguas up the stream. As they frequently wound about 
through the country, having to go round the bays that swell 
out of the river, the Indians had opportunity to attack those 
in the piraguas, placing them in great peril, being shot at 
with bows from the ravines, while they dared not leave the 
shore, because of the swiftness of the current ; so that, as soon 
as the Governor got to the town, he directly sent crossbowmen 
to them down the stream, for their protection. When the 
piraguas arrived, he ordered them to be taken to pieces, and the 
spikes kept for making others, when they should be needed. 

The Governor slept at the town one night, and the day 
following he went in quest of a province called Pacaha, which 
he had been informed was nigh Chisca, where the Indians said 
there was gold. He passed through large towns in Aquixo, 
which the people had left for fear of the Christians. From 
some Indians that were taken, he heard that three days' jour- 
ney thence resided a great cacique, called Casqui. He came 
to a small river, over which a bridge was made, whereby he 
crossed. 1 All that day, until sunset, he marched through 
water, in places coming to the knees; in others, as high as 
the waist. They were greatly rejoiced on reaching the dry 
land ; because it had appeared to them that they should travel 
about, lost, all night in the water. At mid-day they came to 

1 This was Fifteen-Mile Bayou, and the crossing-place was probably near 
the southeast corner of St. Francis County, Arkansas. 



206 SPANISH EXPLOEEES [1541 

the first town of Casqui 7 where they found the Indians off 
their guard, never having heard of them. Many men and 
women were taken, much clothing, blankets, and skins ; such 
they likewise took in another town in sight of the first, half a 
league off in the field, whither the horsemen had run. 

This land is higher, drier, and more level than any other 
along the river that had been seen until then. In the fields 
were many walnut-trees, bearing tender-shelled nuts in the 
shape of acorns, many being found stored in the houses. The 
tree did not differ in any thing from that of Spain, nor from 
the one seen before, except the leaf was smaller. There were 
many mulberry-trees, and trees of plums (persimmons), having 
fruit of vermilion hue, like one of Spain, while others were 
gray, differing, but far better. All the trees, the year round, 
were as green as if they stood in orchards, and the woods were 
open. 

The Governor marched two days through the country of 
Casqui, before coming to the town 1 where the cacique was, 
the greater part of the way lying through fields thickly set 
with great towns, two or three of them to be seen from one. 
He sent word by an Indian to the cacique, that he was coming 
to obtain his friendship and to consider him as a brother; to 
which he received for answer, that he would be welcomed; 
that he would be received with special good-will, and all that 
his lordship required of him should be done; and the chief 
sent him on the road a present of skins, shawls, and fish. 
After these gifts were made, all the towns into which the 
Governor came were found occupied; and the inhabitants 
awaited him in peace, offering him skins, shawls, and fish. 

Accompanied by many persons, the cacique came half a 
league on the road from the town where he dwelt to receive 
the Governor, and, drawing nigh to him, thus spoke: 

Very High, Powerful, and Renowned Master: 

I greet your coming. So soon as I had notice of you, your 
power and perfections, although you entered my territory captur- 

1 This place was probably located near the mouth of Tyronza Eiver. 



1541] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 207 

ing and killing the dwellers upon it, who are my vassals, I deter- 
mined to conform my wishes to your will, and hold as right all 
that you might do, believing that it should be so for a good reason, 
providing against some future event, to you perceptible but from 
me concealed; since an evil may well be permitted to avoid an- 
other greater, that good can arise, which I trust will be so; for 
from so excellent a prince, no bad motive is to be suspected. My 
ability is so small to serve you, according to your great merit, that 
though you should consider even my abundant will and humility 
in proffering you all manner of services, I must still deserve little 
in your sight. If this ability can with reason be valued, I pray 
you receive it, and with it my country and my vassals, of me and 
them disposing at your pleasure; for though you were lord of the 
earth, with no more good-will would you be received, served, and 
obeyed. 

The Governor responded appropriately in a few words 
which satisfied the chief. Directly they fell to making each 
other great proffers, using much courtesy, the cacique inviting 
the Governor to go and take lodging in his houses. He 
excused himself, the better to preserve peace, saying that he 
wished to lie in the field ; and, because the heat was excessive, 
he pitched the camp among some trees, quarter of a league 
from the town. The cacique went to his town, and returned 
with many Indians singing, who, when they had come to 
where the Governor was, all prostrated themselves. Among 
them were two blind men. The cacique made an address, of 
which, as it was long, I will give the substance in a few words. 
He said, that inasmuch as the Governor was son of the Sun, 
he begged him to restore sight to those Indians: whereupon 
the blind men arose, and they very earnestly entreated him 
to do so. Soto answered them, that in the heavens above 
there was One who had the power to make them whole, and do 
whatever they could ask of Him, whose servant he was ; that 
this great Lord made the sky and the earth, and man after 
His image ; that He had suffered on the tree of the true cross 
to save the human race, and risen from the grave on the third 
day, — what of man there was of Him dying, what of divinity 
being immortal; and that, having ascended into heaven, He 



208 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1541 

was there with open arms to receive all that would be con- 
verted to Him. He then directed a lofty cross of wood to be 
made and set up in the highest part of the town, declaring to 
the cacique that the Christians worshipped that, in the form 
and memory of the one on which Christ suffered. He placed 
himself with his people before it, on their knees, which the 
Indians did likewise; and he told them that from that time 
thenceforth they should thus worship the Lord, of whom he 
had spoken to them, that was in the skies, asking Him for 
whatsoever they stood in need of. 

The chief being asked what was the distance to Pacaha, 
he answered that it was one day's journey, and said that on 
the extreme of his territory there was a lake, like an estuary, 
that entered into the Rio Grande, to which he would send per- 
sons in advance to build a bridge, whereby they might pass 
over it. The night of the day the Governor left, he slept at 
a town of Casqui ; and the next day he passed in sight of two 
other towns, and arrived at the lake, which was half a cross- 
bow-shot over, of great depth and swiftness of current. 1 
The Indians had just got the bridge done as he came up. It 
was built of wood, in the manner of timber thrown across 
from tree to tree ; on one side there being a rail of poles, higher 
than the rest, as a support for those who should pass. The 
cacique of Casqui having come with his people, the Governor 
sent word by an Indian to the cacique of Pacaha, that though 
he might be at enmity with him of Casqui, and that chief be 
present, he should receive neither injury nor insult, provided 
that he attended in peace and desired his friendship, for as a 
brother would he treat him. The Indian went as he was bid, 
and returned, stating that the cacique took no notice of the 
message, but that he fled out of the town, from the back part, 
with all his people. Then the Governor entered there, and with 
the cavalry charged in the direction the Indians were running, 
and at another town, a quarter of a league off, many were 
taken. As fast as they were captured, the horsemen deliv- 
ered them to the Indians of Casqui, who, from being their 

1 Tyronza River. 



1541] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 209 

enemies, brought them with great heed and pleasure to the 
town where the Christians were, greatly regretting that they 
had not the liberty to kill them. Many shawls, deer-skins, 
lion and bear-skins, and many cat-skins were found in the 
town. Numbers who had been a long time badly covered, 
there clothed themselves. Of the shawls they made mantles 
and cassocks; some made gowns and lined them with cat- 
skins, as they also did the cassocks. Of the deer-skins were 
made jerkins, shirts, stockings, and shoes: and from the 
bear-skins they made very good cloaks, such as no water 
could get through. They found shields of raw cowhide 
out of which armor was made for the horses. 

Chapter 24 

Of how the cacique of Pacaha came in peace, and he of Casqui, 
having absented himself, returned to excuse his conduct; 
and how the Governor made friendship between the chiefs. 

On Wednesday, the nineteenth day of June, the Governor 
entered Pacaha, 1 and took quarters in the town where the 
cacique was accustomed to reside. It was enclosed and very 
large. In the towers and the palisade were many loopholes. 
There was much dry maize, and the new was in great quan- 
tity, throughout the fields. At the distance of half a league 
to a league off were large towns, all of them surrounded with 
stockades. 

Where the Governor stayed was a great lake, near to the 
enclosure ; and the water entered a ditch that well-nigh went 
round the town. From the River Grande to the lake was a 
canal, through which the fish came into it, and where the chief 
kept them for his eating and pastime. With nets that were 
found in the place, as many were taken as need required ; and 
however much might be the casting, there was never any lack 
of them. In the many other lakes about were also many fish, 

1 It was on Wednesday, June 29, that they entered Pacaha. This place 
was probably located in the vicinity of Osceola, Mississippi County, Arkan- 
sas, but not further northward. 



210 SPANISH EXPLOEEES [1541 

though the flesh was soft, and none of it so good as that which 
came from the river. The greater number differ from those 
in the fresh water of Spain. There was a fish called bagre, 
the third part of which was head, with gills from end to end, 
and along the sides were great spines, like very sharp awls. 
Those of this sort that lived in the lake were as big as pike; 
in the river were some that weighed from one hundred to one 
hundred and fifty pounds. Many were taken with the hook. 
There was one in the shape of barbel ; another like bream, with 
the head of a hake, having a color between red and brown, 
and was the most esteemed. There was likewise a kind called 
peel-fish, the snout a cubit in length, the upper lip being shaped 
like a shovel. Another fish was like a shad. Except the 
bagres and the peel, they were all of scale. There was one, 
called pereo, the Indians sometimes brought, the size of a hog, 
and had rows of teeth above and below. 

The cacique of Casqui many times sent large presents of 
fish, shawls, and skins. Having told the Governor that he 
would deliver into his hands the cacique of Pacaha, he went 
to Casqui, and ordered many canoes to ascend the river, while 
he should march by land, taking many of his warriors. The 
Governor, with forty cavalry and sixty infantry, was con- 
ducted by him up stream; and the Indians who were in the 
canoes discovered the cacique of Pacaha on an islet between 
two arms of the river. Five Christians entered a canoe, of 
whom was Don Antonio Osorio, to go in advance and see 
what number of people the cacique had with him. There 
were five or six thousand souls, of whom, directly as they saw 
the people, taking the Indians who went in the canoes to be 
Christians also, the cacique and as many as could get into 
three canoes that were there, fled to the opposite bank; the 
greater part of the rest, in terror and confusion, plunging into 
the river to swim, many, mostly women and infants, got 
drowned. Then the Governor, who was on land, without 
knowing what was passing with Don Antonio and those who 
accompanied him, ordered the Christians, in all haste, to enter 
the canoes with the Indians of Casqui, and they directly join- 



1541] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 211 

ing Don Antonio on the islet, many men and women were 
taken, and much clothing. 

Many clothes, which the Indians had in cane hurdles and 
on rafts to carry over, floated down stream, the people of Cas- 
qui filling their canoes with them ; and, in fear that the Chris- 
tians might take these away, their chief went off with them 
down the river to his territory, without taking leave. At this 
the Governor became indignant, and directly returning to 
Pacaha, two leagues on the road, he overran the country of 
Casqui, capturing twenty or thirty of its men. The horses 
being tired, and there remaining no time that day to go far- 
ther, he went on to Pacaha, with the intention of marching 
in three or four days upon Casqui, directly letting loose a 
man of Pacaha, sending word by him to its chief, that should 
he wish his friendship he should come to him, and together they 
would go to carry war upon Casqui: and immediately there 
arrived many people of Pacaha, bringing as the chief an Ind- 
ian, who was exposed by a prisoner, brother of the cacique. 
The Governor told them that their lord must come ; that he 
well knew that Indian was not he ; for that nothing could be 
done without its being known to him before they so much as 
thought of it. The cacique came the next day, followed by 
many Indians, with a large gift of fish, skins, and shawls. He 
made a speech, that all were glad to hear, and concluded by 
saying, that although his lordship had causelessly inflicted in- 
jury on his country and his subjects, he did not any the less cease 
to be his, and was always at his command. The Governor 
ordered his brother to be let go, and some principal men he held 
captives. That day a messenger arrived from Casqui, saying 
that his master would come early on the morrow to excuse 
the error he had committed in going away without his licence ; 
to which the Governor bade him say, in return, to the cacique, 
that if he did not come himself in person he would go after 
him, and inflict the punishment he deserved. 

The chief of Casqui came the next day, and after present- 
ing many shawls, skins, and fish, he gave the Governor a 
daughter, saying that his greatest desire was to unite his 



212 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1541 

blood with that of so great a lord as he was, begging that he 
would take her to wife. He made a long and discreet oration, 
full of praise of Soto; and concluded by asking his forgive- 
ness, for the love of that cross he had left, for having gone off 
without his permission; that he had done so because of the 
shame he felt for what his people had done without his con- 
sent. The Governor said that he had taken a good sponsor; 
that he had himself determined, if the cacique had not come 
to apologize, to go after him and burn his towns, kill him and 
his people, and lay waste his country. To this the chief 
replied : 

Master : 

I and mine belong to you ; and my territory is yours, so that 
you will destroy it, if you will, as your own, and your people you 
will slay. All that falls from your hand I shall receive as from my 
lord's, and as merited chastisement. Know, that the service you 
have done me in leaving that cross has been signal, and more than 
I have deserved; for, you know, of great droughts the maize in 
our fields was perishing, and no sooner had I and mine thrown 
ourselves on our knees before it, asking for water, than the want 
was supplied. 

The Governor made friendship between the chiefs of Cas- 
qui and Pacaha, and placed them at the table, that they 
should eat with him. They had a difficulty as to who should 
sit at his right hand, which the Governor quieted by telling 
them that among the Christians the one seat was as good as the 
other ; that they should so consider it, and while with him no 
one should understand otherwise, each taking the seat he first 
came to. Thence he sent thirty horsemen and fifty footmen 
to the province of Caluca, 1 to see if in that direction they 
could turn back towards Chisca, where the Indians said there 
was a foundry of gold and copper. They travelled seven days 
through desert, and returned in great extremity, eating green 

1 It was from Chicaga that the expedition was sent. This province was 
probably located in the northeastern part of Mississippi, extending from 
Baldwyn, Prentiss County, to the Tennessee River, in Tishomingo County. 



1541] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 213 

plums (persimmons) and maize-stalks, which they had found 
in a poor town of seven or eight houses. The Indians stated 
that thence towards the north, the country, being very cold, 
was very thinly populated; that cattle were in such plenty, 
no maize-field could be protected from them, and the inhabit- 
ants lived upon the meat. Seeing that the country was so 
poorly off for maize that there could be no support, the Gov- 
ernor asked the Indians in what direction there were most 
inhabitants; and they said that they had knowledge of a 
large province and a country of great abundance, called Qui- 
guate, that lay in the southern direction. 



Chapter 25 

How the Governor went from Pacaha to Aquiguate and to 
Coligoa, and came to Cay as. 

The Governor rested in Pacaha forty days, during which 
time the two caciques made him presents of fish, shawls, and 
skins, in great quantity, each striving to outdo the other in 
the magnitude of the gifts. At the time of his departure, the 
chief of Pacaha bestowed on him two of his sisters, telling him 
that they were tokens of love, for his remembrance, to be his 
wives. The name of one was Macanoche, that of the other 
Mochila. They were symmetrical, tall, and full: Macanoche 
bore a pleasant expression; in her manners and features ap- 
peared the lady; the other was robust. The cacique of Cas- 
qui ordered the bridge to be repaired; and the Governor, 
returning through his territory, lodged in the field near his 
town. He brought there much fish, exchanged two women 
for as many shirts with two of the Christians, and furnished a 
guide and tamemes. The Governor marched to one of his 
towns, and slept, and the next night came to another that 
was near a river, 1 where he ordered him to bring canoes, 
that he might cross over. There taking his leave, the chief 
went back. 

1 St. Francis River. 



214 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1541 

The Governor travelled towards Aquiguate, 1 and on the 
fourth day of August came to the residence of the cacique, 
who, although he had sent him a present, on the road, of 
many shawls and skins, abandoned the place through fear on 
his arrival. That town was the largest seen in Florida : one- 
half of it was occupied by the Governor and his people ; and, 
after a few days, discovering that the Indians were dealing in 
falsehoods, he ordered the other part to be burned, that it 
might not afford them cover should they attack him at night, 
nor be an embarrassment to his cavalry in a movement to 
repel them. An Indian having come, attended by a multi- 
tude, declaring himself to be the cacique, the Governor deliv- 
ered him over to be looked after by his body-guard. Many 
of the Indians went off, and returned with shawls and skins ; 
but, finding small opportunity for carrying out their evil plan, 
one day the pretended cacique, walking out of the house with 
the Governor, ran away with such swiftness that not one of 
the Christians could overtake him; and plunging into the 
river, at the distance of a crossbow-shot from the town, he 
made for the other shore, where many Indians, giving loud 
shouts, began to make use of their arrows. The Governor 
directly crossed over to attack them with horse and foot ; but 
they dared not await him: following them up, he came to a 
town that was abandoned, before which there was a lake 2 
the horses could not pass over, and on the other side were 
many females. The footmen having crossed, capturing many 
of them, took much clothing. Returning to the camp early 
in the night, the sentinels seized a spy, who assenting to the 
request to lead to where the cacique was, the Governor di- 
rectly set out with twenty cavalry and fifty infantry in quest 
of him. After travelling a day and a half, they found him in 
a thick wood ; and a soldier, ignorant of who he was, having 
struck him on the head with a cutlass, he called out not to 

1 This place was on the west side of the St. Francis River, in the northern 
part of Lee County or the southern part of St. Francis County, Arkansas. 

2 This may have been Lake Michigamia of the French maps, which 
ceased to exist after the New Madrid earthquakes. 



1541] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 215 

kill him, that he was the chief ; so he was captured, and with 
him one hundred and forty of his people. 

The Governor, returning to Quiguate, directed him to tell 
his people to come and serve the Christians ; but, after wait- 
ing some days, in the hope of their arrival, and finding that 
they did not come, he sent two captains, each on an opposite 
side of the river, with infantry and cavalry, whereby many of 
both sexes were made prisoners. The Indians, seeing the harm 
that they received for their rebellious conduct, waited on the 
Governor to take his commands, coming and going often, 
bringing with them presents of fish. The cacique and two of 
his wives being at their liberty in the quarters of the Governor, 
which were guarded by his halberdiers, he asked them what 
part of the country was most inhabited; to which they re- 
plied, that to the south, or down the river, where were large 
towns, and the caciques governed wide territories, with numer- 
ous people ; and that to the northwest was a province, near 
some mountains, called Coligoa. He, with the others, deemed 
it well to go thither first ; saying that the mountains, perhaps, 
would make a difference in the soil, and that silver and gold 
might afterward follow. 

The country of Aquiguate, like that of Casqui and Pacaha, 
was level and fertile, having rich river margins, on which the 
Indians made extensive fields. From Tascaluga to the River 
Grande may be three hundred leagues ; a region very low, having 
many lakes : from Pacaha to Quiguate there may be one hun- 
dred and ten leagues. There he left the cacique in his own 
town ; and an Indian guided them through an immense path- 
less thicket of desert for seven days, where they slept continu- 
ally in ponds and shallow puddles. 1 Fish were so plentiful in 
them that they were killed with blows of cudgels ; and as the 
Indians travelled in chains, they disturbed the mud at the bot- 
tom, by which the fish, becoming stupefied, would swim to 
the surface, when as many were taken as were desired. 

The inhabitants of Coligoa had never heard of the Chris- 

1 They crossed four swamps, according to Ranjel, which were the 
Xi'Anguille River, Big Creek, Bayou de Vue, and Cache River. 



216 SPANISH EXPLOKEKS [1541 

tians, and when these got so near their town as to be seen, 
they fled up stream along a river that passed near by there; 
some throwing themselves into the water, whence they were 
taken by their pursuers, who, on either bank, captured many 
of both sexes, and the cacique with the rest. Three days from 
that time came many Indians, by his order, with offerings of 
shawls, deer-skins, and two cowhides : they stated that at the 
distance of five or six leagues towards the north were many 
cattle, where the country, being cold, was thinly inhabited; 
and that, to the best of their knowledge, the province that was 
better provisioned than any other, and more populous, was 
one to the south, called Cayas. 

About forty leagues from Quiguate stood Coligoa, 1 at the 
foot of a mountain, in the vale of a river of medium size, like 
the Caya, a stream that passes through Estremadura. The 
soil was rich, yielding maize in such profusion that the old 
Was thrown out of store to make room for the new grain. 
Beans and pumpkins were likewise in great plenty : both were 
larger and better than those of Spain: the pumpkins, when 
roasted, have nearly the taste of chestnuts. The cacique con- 
tinued behind in his own town, having given a guide for the 
way to Cayas. 

We travelled five days, and came to the province of Pali- 
sema. 2 The house of the cacique was canopied with colored 
deer-skins, having designs drawn on them, and the ground 
was likewise covered in the same manner, as if with carpets. 
He had left it in that state for the use of the Governor, a token 
of peace, and of a desire for friendship, though still he did not 
dare to await his coming. The Governor, finding that he had 
gone away, sent a captain with horse and foot to look after 
him; and though many persons were seen, because of the 
roughness of the country, only a few men and boys were 

1 Coligoa was in the valley of Little Red River, and before arriving there, 
they crossed White River below the mouth of Little Red River, in Woodruff 
County, Arkansas. 

2 According to Ranjel, before arriving at this place they passed through 
Calpista, where there was a flowing salt spring. This spring was on the bank 
of Little Red River, in Cleburne County. 



1541] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 217 

secured. The houses were few and scattered: only a little 
maize was found. 

Directly the Governor set forward and came to Tatalicoya, 1 
whence he took the cacique, who guided him to Cayas, a dis- 
tance of four days' journey from that town. When he arrived 
and saw the scattered houses, he thought, from the informa- 
tion he had received of the great populousness of the country, 
that the cacique was lying to him — that it was not the pro- 
vince; and he menaced him, bidding him tell where he was. 
The chief, as likewise the other Indians taken near by, de- 
clared that to be in Cayas, 2 the best town in all the province ; 
and that although the houses were far apart, the country 
occupied being extensive, it had numerous people and many 
maize-fields. The town was called Tanico. 3 The camp was 
placed in the best part of it, nigh a river. On the day of arrival, 
the Governor, with some mounted men, went a league farther, 
but found no one, and only some skins, which the cacique had 
put on the road to be taken, a sign of peace, by the usage of 
the country. 

Chapter 26 

How the Governor went to visit the province of Tulla, and what 

happened to him. 

The Governor tarried a month in the province of Cayas. 
In this time the horses fattened and throve more than they 
had done at other places in a longer time, in consequence of 
the large quantity of maize there. The blade of it, I think, 
is the best fodder that grows. The beasts drank so copiously 
from the very warm and brackish lake, that they came having 
their bellies swollen with the leaf when they were brought back 
from watering. Till they reached that spot the Christians 

1 After leaving Tatalicoya they came to a great river, according to Ran- 
jel. This was White River. 

2 This province was in the region of northwestern Arkansas and the 
Indian Territory. 

3 Tanico was located on the east side of Grand or Neosho River, in the 
Indian Territory. 



218 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1541 

had wanted salt: they now made a quantity and took it 
with them. The Indians carry it into other parts, to ex- 
change for skins and shawls. 

The salt is made along by a river, which, when the water 
goes down, leaves it upon the sand. As they cannot gather the 
salt without a large mixture of sand, it is thrown together into 
certain baskets they have for the purpose, made large at the 
mouth and small at the bottom. These are set in the air on 
a ridge-pole ; and water being thrown on, vessels are placed 
under them wherein it may fall; then, being strained and 
placed on the fire, it is boiled away, leaving salt at the 
bottom. 

The lands on the shores of the river were fields, and maize 
was in plenty. The Indians dared not cross the river to where 
we were. Some appearing, were called to by the soldiers who 
saw them, and having come over were conducted by them 
before the Governor. On being asked for the cacique, they 
said that he was peaceful but afraid to show himself. The 
Governor directly sent them back to tell him to come, and, 
if he desired his friendship, to bring an interpreter and a guide 
for the travel before them ; that if he did not do so he would 
go in pursuit, when it would be the worse for him. The Gov- 
ernor waited three days, and finding that the cacique did not 
come, he went in pursuit and brought him there a captive, 
with one hundred and fifty of his people. He asked him if 
he had knowledge of any great cacique, and in what direction 
the country was most inhabited. The Indian stated, that the 
largest population about there was that of a province lying 
to the southward, thence a day and a half's travel, called 
Tulla; that he could give him a guide, but no interpreter; 
that the tongue of that country was different from his, and 
that he and his ancestors had ever been at war with its chiefs, 
so that they neither conversed together nor understood each 
other. 

Then the Governor, with cavalry and fifty infantry, di- 
rectly set out for Tulla, to see if it were such a land as he might 
pass through with his troops. So soon as it became known 



1541] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 219 

that he had reached there, the inhabitants were summoned ; 
and as they gathered by fifteen and twenty at a time, they 
would come to attack the Christians. Finding that they were 
sharply handled, and that in running the horses would over- 
take them, they got upon the house-tops, where they endeav- 
ored to defend themselves with their bows and arrows. When 
beaten off from one roof, they would get up on to another; 
and while the Christians were going after some, others would 
attack them from an opposite direction. The struggle lasted 
so long that the steeds, becoming tired, could not be made 
to run. One horse was killed and others were wounded. Of 
the Indians fifteen were slain, and forty women and boys 
made prisoners ; for to no one who could draw a bow and could 
be reached was his life spared him. 

The Governor determined at once to go back, before the 
inhabitants should have time to come together. That after- 
noon, he set out, and travelling into the night, he slept on the 
road to avoid Tulla, and arrived the next day at Cayas. Three 
days later he marched to Tulla, bringing with him the cacique, 
among whose Indians he was unable to find one who spoke 
the language of that place. He was three days on the way, 
and at his arrival found the town abandoned, the inhabitants 
not venturing to remain for him. But no sooner did they 
know that he was in the town, than, at four o'clock on the 
morning of the first night, they came upon him in two squad- 
rons, from different directions, with bows and arrows and with 
long staves like pikes. So soon as they were felt, both cavalry 
and infantry turned out. Some Christians and some horses 
were injured. Many of the Indians were killed. 

Of those made captive, the Governor sent six to the cacique, 
their right hands and their noses cut off, with the message, 
that, if he did not come to him to apologize and render obedi- 
ence, he would go in pursuit, and to him, and as many of his 
as he might find, would he do as he had done to those he sent. 
He allowed him three days in which to appear, making him- 
self understood by signs, in the best manner possible, for want 
of an interpreter. At the end of that time an Indian, bearing 



220 SPANISH EXPLOEEES [1541 

a back-load of cow-skins from the cacique, arrived, weeping 
with great sobs, and coming to where the Governor was, threw 
himself at his feet. Soto raised him up, and the man made a 
speech, but there was none to understand him. The Gov- 
ernor, by signs, told him to return and say to the cacique, 
that he must send him some one who could speak with the 
people of Cayas. Three Indians came the next day with loads 
of cow-skins, and three days afterward came twenty others. 
Among them was one who understood those of Cayas. After 
a long oration from him, of apologies for the cacique and in 
praise of the Governor, he concluded by saying, that he with 
the others had come, in behalf of the chief, to inquire what 
his lordship would command, for that he was ready to serve 
him. 

At hearing these words the Governor and the rest were all 
rejoiced ; for in no way could they go on without a guide. He 
ordered the man to be safely kept, and told the Indians who 
came with him to go back to the cacique and say, that he for- 
gave him the past and greatly thanked him for the interpreter 
and the presents; that he should be pleased to see him, and 
to come the next day, that they might talk together. He 
came at the end of three days, and with him eighty Indians. 
As he and his men entered the camp they wept, — the token 
of obedience and the repentance of a past error, according to 
the usage of that country. He brought a present of many 
cow-skins, which were found very useful; the country being 
cold, they were taken for bed-covers, as they were very soft 
and the wool like that of sheep. 1 Near by, to the northward, 
are many cattle. The Christians did not see them, nor go 
where they were, because it was a country thinly populated, 
having little maize. The cacique of Tulla made an address to 
the Governor, in which he apologized and offered him his 
country, his vassals, and his person. The speech of this cacique 
— like those of the other chiefs, and all the messengers in their 
behalf who came before the Governor — no orator could more 
elegantly phrase. 

1 Buffalo skins are meant. 



1541] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 221 

Chapter 27 

How the Governor went from Tulla to Autiamque, where he 
passed the winter. 

The Governor informed himself of the country in every 
direction. He ascertained that toward the west there was a 
thin population, and to the southeast were great towns, prin- 
cipally in a province, abundant of maize, called Autiamque, 
at the distance of about eighty leagues, ten days' journey from 
Tulla. The winter was already come. The cold, rain, and 
snow did not permit the people to travel for two or three 
months in the year, and the Governor feared to remain among 
that sparse population, lest his force could not be subsisted 
for that length of time. Moreover, the Indians said that near 
Autiamque was a great water, which, from their account, ap- 
peared to him to be an arm of the sea. Hence, he determined 
to winter in that province, and in the following summer to go 
to the sea-side, where he would build two brigantines, — one 
to send to Cuba, the other to New Spain, that the arrival of 
either might bear tidings of him. Three years had elapsed 
since he had been heard of by Dona Ysabel, or by any person 
in a civilized community. Two hundred and fifty men of his 
were dead, likewise one hundred and fifty horses. He desired 
to recruit from Cuba of man and beast, calculating, out of his 
property there, to refit and again go back to advance, to dis- 
cover and to conquer farther on towards the west, where he 
had not reached, and whither Cabega de Vaca had wandered. 

Having dismissed the caciques of Tulla and Cayas, the 
Governor took up his course, marching five days over very 
sharp mountains, 1 and arrived in a peopled district called 
Quipana. Not a native could be captured, because of the 
roughness of the country, and the town was among ridges. 
At night an ambuscade was set, in which two men were taken, 
who said that Autiamque was six days' journey distant, and 
that there was another province toward the south, eight days' 

1 The Boston Mountains. 



222 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1541 

travel off, called Guahate, very abundant in maize and very- 
populous. However, as Autiamque was nearer, and most of 
the Indians spoke of it, the Governor continued on his journey 
thither. 1 

At the end of three days he came to a town called Anoixi. 
Having sent a captain in advance, with thirty horse and fifty 
foot, they came suddenly upon the inhabitants, taking many 
of both sexes. On the second day afterwards, the Governor 
arrived at another town, called Catamaya, and slept in the 
adjacent fields. Two Indians coming to him from the cacique, 
with the pretext of a message, in order to ascertain his busi- 
ness, he told them to say to their master, that he wished to 
speak with him ; but they came no more, nor was other word 
returned. The next day the Christians went to the town, 
which was without people, and having taken what maize they 
needed, that night they reached a wood to rest, and the day 
following arrived at Autiamque. 2 

They found in store much maize, also beans, walnuts, and 
dried plums (persimmons) in large quantities. Some Indians 
were taken while gathering up their clothing, having already 
carried away their wives. The country was level and very 
populous. The Governor lodged in the best portion of the 
town, and ordered a fence immediately to be put up about 
the encampment, away from the houses, that the Indians 
without might do no injury with fire. Measuring off the 
ground by pacing, he allotted to each his part to build, according 
to the Indians he possessed ; and the timber being soon brought 
by them, in three days it was finished, made of very high trees 
sunk deep in the ground, and traversed by many pieces. 

Near by passed a river of Cayas, the shores of it well peo- 
pled, both above and below the town. Indians appeared on 
the part of the cacique with a present of shawls and skins, 

1 According to Ranjel they entered the plains on the second day after 
leaving Quipana. Before doing so, they crossed the Arkansas River, prob- 
ably at the old ford, located some fifteen miles above Fort Smith. 

2 This town was located within thirty miles east of Fort Smith, and on 
the south side of the Arkansas River. 



1541] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 223 

and a lame chief, the lord of a town called Tietiquaquo, 1 sub- 
ject to the cacique of Autiamque, came frequently to visit the 
Governor, and brought him gifts of the things he possessed. 
The cacique sent to the Governor to inquire what length of 
time he would remain in his territory ; and hearing that he was 
to be there more than three days, he sent no more messages 
nor Indians, but treated with the lame chief to rise in revolt. 
Numerous inroads were made, in which many persons of both 
sexes Were taken, and among the rest that chief, whom the 
Governor, having reprehended and admonished, set at liberty, 
in consideration of the presents he had made, giving him two 
Indians to bear him away on their shoulders. 

The cacique of Autiamque, desiring to drive the strangers 
out of his territory, ordered spies to be set about them. An 
Indian, coming at night to the entrance of the palisade, was 
noticed by a soldier on guard, who, putting himself behind 
the door as he entered, struck him down with a cutlass. When 
taken before the Governor, he was asked why he came, but 
fell dead without utterance. The next night the Governor 
sent a soldier to beat the alarm, and cry out that he saw 
Indians, in order to ascertain how fast the men would hasten 
to the call. This was done also in other places, at times when 
it appeared to him they were careless, that he might reprove 
those who were late in coming ; so that for danger, as well as 
for doing his duty, each one on such occasion would strive 
to be the first. 

The Christians stayed three months in Autiamque, enjoy- 
ing the greatest plenty of maize, beans, walnuts, and dried 
plums (persimmons) ; also rabbits, which they had never had 
ingenuity enough to ensnare until the Indians there taught 
them. The contrivance is a strong spring, that lifts the ani- 
mal off its feet, a noose being made of a stiff cord to run about 
the neck, passing through rings of cane, that it may not be 
gnawed. Many of them were taken in the maize-fields, usu- 
ally when it was freezing or snowing. The Christians were 

1 This place was located in the province of Chaguate. 



224 SPANISH EXPLOEEES [1542 

there a month in snow, when they did not go out of town, 
save to a wood, at the distance of two crossbow-shots, to 
which, whenever fuel was wanted, a road was opened, the 
Governor and others, on horseback, going to and returning 
from it many times, when the fuel was brought from there by 
those on foot. In this time many rabbits were killed with 
arrows by the Indians, who were now allowed to go at large 
in their shackles. The animal is of two sorts; one of them 
like that of Spain, the other of the color, form, and size of 
the great hare, though longer even, and having bigger loins. 

Chapter 28 

How the Governor went from Autiamque to Nilco, and thence to 

Guachoya. 

On Monday, the sixth day of March, of the year 1542 of 
the Christian era, the Governor set out from Autiamque to 
seek Nilco, which the Indians said was nigh the River Grande, 
with the purpose, by going to the sea, to recruit his forces. He 
had not over three hundred efficient men, nor more than forty 
horses. Some of the beasts were lame, and useful only in 
making out the show of a troop of cavalry; and, from the 
lack of iron, they had all gone a year without shoes, though, 
from the circumstance of travelling in a smooth country, they 
had little need of them. 

Juan Ortiz died in Autiamque, a loss the Governor greatly 
regretted; for, without an interpreter, not knowing whither 
he was travelling, Soto feared to enter the country, lest he might 
get lost. Thenceforth a lad, taken in Cutifachiqui, who had 
learned somewhat of the language of the Christians, served as 
the interpreter. The death was so great a hindrance to our 
going, whether on discovery or out of the country, that to 
learn of the Indians what would have been rendered in four 
words, it became necessary now to have the whole day : and 
oftener than otherwise the very opposite was understood of 
what was asked; so that many times it happened the road 
that we travelled one day, or sometimes two or three days, 



1542] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 225 

would have to be returned over, wandering up and down, 
lost in thickets. 

The Governor went to a province called Ayays, 1 arriving 
at a town near the river that passed by Cayas, and by Auti- 
amque, from which he had been ten days in coming. He or- 
dered a piragua to be built, in which he crossed ; 2 and, having 
arrived on the other shore, there set in such weather that 
marching was impossible for four days, because of snow. When 
that ceased to fall, he travelled three days through desert, a 
region so low, so full of lakes and bad passages, that at one 
time, for the whole day, the travel lay through water up to 
the knees at places, in others to the stirrups ; and occasionally, 
for the distance of a few paces, there was swimming. And he 
came to Tutelpinco, 3 a town untenanted, and found to be 
without maize, seated near a lake that flowed copiously into 
the river with a violent current. Five Christians, in charge 
of a captain, in attempting to cross, by order of the Governor, 
were upset; when some seized hold of the canoe they had 
employed, others of trees that grew in the water, while one, a 
worthy man, Francisco Bastian, a native of Villanueva de 
Barcarota, became drowned. The Governor travelled all one 
day along the margin of the lake, seeking for a ford, but could 
discover none, nor any way to get over. 

Returning to Tutelpinco at night, the Governor found two 
friendly natives, who were willing to show him the crossing, 
and the road he was to take. From the reeds and timber of 
the houses, rafts and causeways were made, on which the 
river was crossed. After three days' marching, at Tianto, in 
the territory of Nilco, thirty Indians were taken, among whom 
were two chiefs of the town. A captain, with infantry and 
cavalry, was directly despatched to Nilco, that the inhabitants 
might not have time to carry off their provisions. In going 

1 This province should not be confounded with the province of Aays, 
which was located to the southward of Red River, in Texas. 

2 This crossing-place was to the northward of Pine Bluff, and probably 
in Jefferson County. 

3 This place was on Big Bayou Meto, near the southeast corner of town 
6, range 5, east, in Jefferson County. 



226 SPANISH EXPLOKEKS [1542 

through three or four large towns, at the one where the ca- 
cique resided, two leagues from where the Governor stayed, 
many Indians were found to be in readiness, with bows and 
arrows, who, surrounding the place, appeared to invite an 
onset; but so soon as they saw the Christians drawing nigh 
to them without faltering, they approached the dwelling of 
the cacique, setting fire to it, and, by a pond near the town, 
through which the horses could not go, they fled. 

The following day, Wednesday, the twenty-ninth of March, 
the Governor arrived at Nilco, 1 making his quarters, and those 
of his people, in the town of the cacique, which was in an 
open field, that for a quarter of a league over was all inhab- 
ited ; and at the distance of from half a league to a league off 
were many other large towns, in which was a good quantity 
of maize, beans, walnuts, and dried plums (persimmons). This 
was the most populous of any country that was seen in Florida, 
and the most abundant in maize, excepting Coga and Apalache. 
An Indian, attended by a party, arrived at the camp, and, 
presenting the Governor with a cloak of marten-skins and a 
string of pearls, he received some margaridetas (a kind of 
bead much esteemed in Peru) and other trinkets, with which 
he was well pleased. At leaving, he promised to be back in 
two days, but did not return. In the night-time, however, 
the Indians came in canoes, and carrying away all the maize 
they could take, set up their huts on the other side of the 
river, among the thickest bushes. The Governor, finding that 
the Indians did not arrive within the time promised, ordered 
an ambuscade to be placed at some cribs, near the lake, to 
which the Indians came for maize. Two of them were taken, 
who told him that the person who had come to visit him was 
not the cacique, but one sent by him, pretending to be he, in 
order to observe what might be the vigilance of the Christians, 
and whether it was their purpose to remain in that country, or 
to go farther. Directly a captain, with men on horseback and 
foot, were sent over to the other shore ; but, as their crossing 

1 Nilco was located a few miles southeast of Arkansas Post, on section 30, 
town 8, south, range 2, west, in Desha County, where there is a large mound. 



1542] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 227 

was observed, only ten or a dozen Indians, of both sexes, 
could be taken; and with these the Christians returned to 
camp. 

This river, passing by Anilco, is the same that flows by 
Cayas and Autiamque, and falls into the River Grande, which 
flows by Pacaha and Aquixo, near the province of Guachoya, 
the lord of which ascended in canoes to carry war upon him 
of Nilco. In his behalf a messenger came to the Governor, 
saying that the cacique was his servant, desiring to be so con- 
sidered, and that in two days from that time he would come 
to make his salutation. He arrived in season, accompanied 
by some of his principal men, and with great proffers and 
courtesy, he presented many shawls and deer-skins. The 
Governor gave him some articles of barter, showing him 
much attention, and inquired what towns there might be 
on the river below. He replied that he knew of none other 
than his own ; that opposite was the province of a cacique 
called Quigaltam; then, taking his leave, returned to his 
town. 

The Governor determined to go to Guachoya within a few 
days, to learn if the sea were near, or if there were any inhab- 
ited territory nigh it, where he might find subsistence whilst 
those brigantines were building, that he desired to send to a 
country of Christians. As he crossed the River of Nilco, there 
came up Indians in canoes from Guachoya, who, when they 
saw him, thinking that he was in their pursuit, to do them 
harm, they returned down the river, and informed the cacique, 
when he took away from the town whatsoever his people could 
carry, and passed over with them, all that night, to the other 
bank of the River Grande. The Governor sent a captain with 
fifty men, in six canoes, down the river to Guachoya ; x while 
he, with the rest, marched by land, arriving there on Sunday, 
the seventeenth day of April. 2 He took up his quarters in 
the town of the cacique, which was palisaded, seated a cross- 

1 Guachoya was in the vicinity of Arkansas City, in Desha County, and 
possibly at or near the large mound one mile to the northward. 

2 Sunday was the sixteenth of April. 



228 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1542 

bow-shot from the stream, that is there called the River Tam- 
aliseu, Tapatu at Nilco, Mico at Coga, and at its entrance is 
known as The River. 

Chapter 29 

The message sent to Quigaltam, and the answer brought back 
to the Governor, and what occurred the while. 

So soon as the Governor arrived in Guachoya, he ordered 
Juan de Aiiasco, with as many people as could go in the canoes, 
to ascend the river; for while they were coming from Anilco 
they saw some cabins newly built on the opposite shore. The 
comptroller went, and brought back the boats laden with 
maize, beans, dried plums (persimmons), and the pulp of them 
made into many loaves. The same day an Indian arrived 
from Guachoya, and said that the cacique would come on the 
morrow. The next day, many canoes were seen ascending 
the river; and the people in them remained for an hour on 
the opposite side of the River Grande, in consultation, as to 
whether they should come to us or not ; but finally they con- 
cluded to come, and crossed the river, among them being the 
cacique of Guachoya with many Indians, bringing much fish, 
many dogs, skins, and blankets. So soon as they had landed, 
they went to the lodging of the Governor in the town, and 
having presented him with the offerings, the cacique thus 
spoke : 

Potent and Excellent Master: 

I entreat you to forgive me the error I committed in going 
away from this town, and not waiting to greet and to obey you; 
since the occasion should have been for me, and is, one of pride; 
but I dreaded what I should not have feared, and did consequently 
what was out of reason ; for error comes of haste, and I left without 
proper thought. So soon as I had reflected, I resolved not to fol- 
low the inclination of the foolish, which is to persist in his course, 
but to take that of the discreet and the wise : thus have I changed 
my purpose, coming to see in what it is you will bid me serve you, 
within the farthermost limits of my control. 



1542] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 229 

The Governor received him with much pleasure, thanking 
him for the proffers and gift. Being asked if he had any infor- 
mation of the sea, he said, none, nor of any other inhabited 
country below on that side of the river, except a town two 
leagues distant, belonging to a chief subject to him; nor on 
the other shore, save three leagues down, the province of Quig- 
altam, the lord of which was the greatest of that country. 
The Governor, suspecting that the cacique spoke untruthfully, 
to rid his towns of him, sent Juan de Anasco with eight of 
cavalry down the river, to discover what population might be 
there, and get what knowledge there was of the sea. He was 
gone eight days, and stated, when he got back, that in all that 
time he could not travel more than fourteen or fifteen leagues, 
on account of the great bogs that came out of the river, the 
canebrakes and thick scrubs there were along the margin, and 
that he had found no inhabited spot. 

The Governor sank into a deep despondency at sight of the 
difficulties that presented themselves to his reaching the sea; 
and, what was worse, from the way in which the men and horses 
were diminishing in numbers, he could not sustain himself in 
the country without succor. Of that reflection he pined : but, 
before he took to his pallet, he sent a messenger to the cacique 
of Quigaltam, to say that he was the child of the Sun, and 
whence he came all obeyed him, rendering their tribute ; that 
he besought him to value his friendship, and to come where 
he was ; that he would be rejoiced to see him ; and in token 
of love and his obedience, he must bring him something from 
his country that was in most esteem there. By the same 
Indian, the chief returned this answer : 

As to what you say of your being the son of the Sun, if you 
will cause him to dry up the great river, I will believe you : as to 
the rest, it is not my custom to visit any one, but rather all, of 
whom I have ever heard, have come to visit me, to serve and obey 
me, and pay me tribute, either voluntarily or by force. If you 
desire to see me, come where I am ; if for peace, I will receive you 
with special good-will; if for war, I will await you in my town; 
but neither for you, nor for any man, will I set back one foot. 



230 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1542 

When the messenger returned, the Governor was already 
low, being very ill of fevers. He grieved that he was not in a 
state to cross the river at once, and go in quest of the cacique, 
to see if he could not abate that pride ; though the stream was 
already flowing very powerfully, was nearly half a league broad, 
sixteen fathoms in depth, rushing by in furious torrent, and 
on either shore were many Indians; nor was his power any 
longer so great that he might disregard advantages, relying 
on his strength alone. 

Every day the Indians of Guachoya brought fish, until 
they came to be in such plenty that the town was covered 
with them. 

The Governor having been told by the cacique, that on a 
certain night, the chief of Quigaltam would come to give him 
battle, he suspected it to be a fiction of his devising to get 
him out of his country, and he ordered him to be put under 
guard, and from that night forth the watch to be well kept. 
When asked why the chief did not come, he said that he had, 
but that, finding the Governor in readiness, he dared not ad- 
venture ; and he greatly importuned him to send the captains 
over the river, offering to supply many men to go upon Quig- 
altam; to which the Governor said, that so soon as he got 
well he would himself go to seek that cacique. Observing 
how many Indians came every day to the town, and how popu- 
lous was that country, the Governor fearing that they would 
plot together, and practise on him some perfidy, he per- 
mitted the gates in use, and some gaps in the palisade that 
had not yet been closed up, to remain open, that the Indians 
might not suppose he stood in fear, ordering the cavalry to be 
distributed there; and the night long they made the round, 
from each squadron going mounted men in couples to visit 
the scouts, outside the town, at points in the roads, and to the 
crossbowmen that guarded the canoes in the river. 

That the Indians might stand in terror of them, the Gov- 
ernor determined to send a captain to Nilco, which the people 
of Guachoya had told him was inhabited, and, treating the 
inhabitants there severely, neither town would dare to attack 



1542] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 231 

him: so he commanded Captain Nuno de Tobar to march 
thither with fifteen horsemen, and Captain Juan de Guzman, 
with his company of foot, to ascend the river by water in 
canoes. The cacique of Guachoya ordered canoes to be brought, 
and many warriors to come, who went with the Christians. 
Two leagues from Nilco, the cavalry, having first arrived, 
waited for the foot, and thence together they crossed the river 
in the night. At dawn, in sight of the town, they came upon 
a scout, who, directly as he saw the Christians, set up loud 
yells, and fled to carry the news to those in the place. Nuno 
de Tobar, and those with him, hastened on so rapidly, that 
they were upon the inhabitants before they could all get out 
of town. The ground was open field ; the part of it covered 
by the houses, which might be a quarter of a league in extent, 
contained five or six thousand souls. Coming out of them, 
the Indians ran from one to another habitation, numbers col- 
lecting in all parts, so that there was not a man on horseback 
who did not find himself amidst many ; and when the captain 
ordered that the life of no male should be spared, the surprise 
was such, that there was not a man among them in readiness 
to draw a bow. The cries of the women and children were such 
as to deafen those who pursued them. About one hundred 
men were slain; many were allowed to get away badly 
wounded, that they might strike terror into those who were 
absent. 

Some persons were so cruel and butcher-like that they 
killed all before them, young and old, not one having resisted 
little nor much ; while those who felt it their duty to be wher- 
ever there might be resistance, and were esteemed brave, 
broke through the crowds of Indians, bearing down many 
with their stirrups and the breasts of their horses, giving some 
a thrust and letting them go, but encountering a child or a 
woman would take and deliver it over to the footmen. To 
the ferocious and bloodthirsty, God permitted that their sin 
should rise up against them in the presence of all — when 
there was occasion for fighting showing extreme cowardice, 
and in the end paying for it with their lives. 



232 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1542 

Eighty women and children were captured at Nilco, and 
much clothing. The Indians of Guachoya, before arriving at 
the town, had come to a stop, and from without watched the 
success of the Christians over the inhabitants ; and when they 
saw that these were scattered, that the cavalry were following 
and lancing them, they went to the houses for plunder, filling 
the canoes with clothing; and lest the Christians might take 
away what they got, they returned to Guachoya, where they 
came greatly astonished at what they had seen done to the 
people of Nilco, which they, in great fear, recounted circum- 
stantially to their cacique. 

Chapter 30 

The death of the Adelantado, Don Hernando de Soto, and how 
Luys Moscoso de Alvarado was chosen Governor. 

The Governor, conscious that the hour approached in which 
he should depart this life, commanded that all the King's offi- 
cers should be called before him, the captains and the princi- 
pal personages, to whom he made a speech. He said that he 
was about to go into the presence of God, to give account of 
all his past life; and since He had been pleased to take him 
away at such a time, and when he could recognize the moment 
of his death, he, His most unworthy servant, rendered Him 
hearty thanks. He confessed his deep obligations to them all, 
whether present or absent, for their great qualities, their love 
and loyalty to his person, well tried in the sufferance of hard- 
ship, which he ever wished to honor, and had designed to re- 
ward, when the Almighty should be pleased to give him repose 
from labor with greater prosperity to his fortune. He begged 
that they would pray for him, that through mercy he might 
be pardoned his sins, and his soul be received in glory: he 
asked that they would relieve him of the charge he held over 
them, as well of the indebtedness he was under to them all, 
as to forgive him any wrongs they might have received at his 
hands. To prevent any divisions that might arise, as to who 
should command, he asked that they would be pleased to elect 



1542] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 233 

a principal and able person to be governor, one with whom 
they should all be satisfied, and, being chosen, they would 
swear before him to obey : that this would greatly satisfy him, 
abate somewhat the pains he suffered, and moderate the anx- 
iety of leaving them in a country, they knew not where. 

Baltasar de Gallegos responded in behalf of all, consoling 
him with remarks on the shortness of the life of this world, 
attended as it was by so many toils and afflictions, saying that 
whom God earliest called away, He showed particular favor; 
with many other things appropriate to such an occasion : And 
finally, since it pleased the Almighty to take him to Himself, 
amid the deep sorrow they not unreasonably felt, it was neces- 
sary and becoming in him, as in them, to conform to the Divine 
Will: that as respected the election of a governor, which he 
ordered, whomsoever his Excellency should name to the com- 
mand, him would they obey. Thereupon the Governor nomi- 
nated Luys Moscoso de Alvarado to be his captain-general; 
when by all those present was he straightway chosen and sworn 
Governor. 

The next day, the twenty-first of May, departed this life 
the magnanimous, the virtuous, the intrepid captain, Don 
Hernando de Soto, Governor of Cuba and Adelantado of Flor- 
ida. He was advanced by fortune, in the way she is wont to 
lead others, that he might fall the greater depth : he died in a 
land, and at a time, that could afford him little comfort in 
his illness, when the danger of being no more heard from 
stared his companions in the face, each one himself having 
need of sympathy, which was the cause why they neither 
gave him their companionship nor visited him, as otherwise 
they would have done. 

Luys de Moscoso determined to conceal what had hap- 
pened from the Indians; for Soto had given them to under- 
stand that the Christians were immortal; besides, they held 
him to be vigilant, sagacious, brave ; and, although they were 
at peace, should they know him to be dead, they, being of 
their nature inconstant, might venture on making an attack; 
and they were credulous of all that he had told them, for he 



234 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1542 

made them believe that some things which went on among 
them privately, he had discovered without their being able to 
see how, or by what means ; and that the figure which appeared 
in a mirror he showed, told him whatsoever they might be 
about, or desired to do ; whence neither by word nor deed did 
they dare undertake any thing to his injury. 

So soon as the death had taken place, Luys de Moscoso 
directed the body to be put secretly into a house, where it 
remained three days; and thence it was taken at night, by 
his order, to a gate of the town, and buried within. The Ind- 
ians, who had seen him ill, finding him no longer, suspected 
the reason; and passing by where he lay, they observed the 
ground loose, and, looking about, talked among themselves. 
This coming to the knowledge of Luys de Moscoso, he ordered 
the corpse to be taken up at night, and among the shawls that 
enshrouded it having cast abundance of sand, it was taken 
out in a canoe and committed to the middle of the stream. 
The cacique of Guachoya asked for him, saying: "What has 
been done with my brother and lord, the Governor?" Luys 
de Moscoso told him that he had ascended into the skies, as 
he had done on many other occasions ; but as he would have 
to be detained there some time, he had left him in his stead. 
The chief, thinking within himself that he was dead, ordered 
two well-proportioned young men to be brought, saying, that 
it was the usage of the country, when any lord died, to kill 
some persons, who should accompany and serve him on the 
way, on which account they were brought; and he told him 
to command their heads to be struck off, that they might go 
accordingly to attend his friend and master. Luys de Mos- 
coso replied to him, that the Governor was not dead, but only 
gone into the heavens, having taken with him of his soldiers 
sufficient number for his need, and be besought him to let 
those Indians go, and from that time forward not to follow 
so evil a practice. They were presently ordered to be let loose, 
that they might return to their houses ; but one of them re- 
fused to leave, alleging that he did not wish to remain in the 
power of one who, without cause, condemned him to die, and 



1542] EXPEDITION OF HEENANDO DE SOTO 235 

that he who had saved his life he desired to serve as long as 
he should live. 

Luys de Moscoso ordered the property of the Governor to 
be sold at public outcry. It consisted of two male and three 
female slaves, three horses, and seven hundred swine. For 
each slave, or horse, was given two or three thousand cruzados, 
to be paid at the first melting of gold or silver, or division of 
vassals and territory, with the obligation that should there 
be nothing found in the country, the payment should be made 
at the end of a year, those having no property to pledge to 
give their bond. A hog bought in the same way, trusted, 
two hundred cruzados. Those who had left anything at home 
bought more sparingly, and took less than others. From that 
time forward most of the people owned and raised hogs ; they 
lived on pork, observed Fridays and Saturdays, and the ves- 
pers of holidays, which they had not done before; for, at 
times, they had passed two or three months without tasting 
any meat, and on the day they got any, it had been their cus- 
tom to eat it. 

Chapter 31 

How the Governor Luys de Moscoso left Guachoya and went to 
Chaguete, and from thence to Aguacay. 

Some were glad of the death of Don Hernando de Soto, hold- 
ing it certain that Luys de Moscoso, who was given to leading 
a gay life, preferred to see himself at ease in a land of Chris- 
tians, rather than continue the toils of war, discovering and 
subduing, which the people had come to hate, finding the little 
recompense that followed. The Governor ordered that the 
captains and principal personages should come together, to 
consult and determine upon what they would do; and, in- 
formed of the population there was on all sides, he found that 
towards the west the country was most inhabited, and that 
descending the stream, after passing Quigaltam, it was desert 
and had little subsistence. He besought them all to give him 
their opinion in writing, signed with their names, that, having 



236 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1542 

the views of every one, he might determine whether to follow 
down the river or enter the land. 

To every one it appeared well to march westwardly, be- 
cause in that direction was New Spain, the voyage by sea being 
held more hazardous and of doubtful accomplishment, as a 
vessel of sufficient strength to weather a storm could not be 
built, nor was there captain nor pilot, needle nor chart, nor 
was it known how distant might be the sea ; neither had they 
any tidings of it, or if the river did not take some great turn 
through the land, or might not have some fall over rocks where 
they might be lost. Some, who had seen the sea-card, found 
that by the shore, from the place where they were to New Spain, 
there should be about five hundred leagues ; and they said that 
by land, though they might have to go round about some- 
times, in looking for a peopled country, unless some great im- 
passable wilderness should intervene, they could not be hin- 
dered from going forward that summer ; and, finding provision 
for support in some peopled country where they might stop, 
the following summer they should arrive in a land of Christians ; 
and that, going by land, it might be they should discover some 
rich country which would avail them. Moscoso, although it 
was his desire to get out of the land of Florida in the shortest 
time, seeing the difficulties that lay before him in a voyage 
by sea, determined to undertake that which should appear to 
be the best to all. 

Monday, the fifth of June, the Governor left Guachoya, 
receiving a guide from the cacique who remained in his town. 
They passed through a province called Catalte; and, going 
through a desert six days' journey in extent, on the twentieth 
of the month they came to Chaguate. 1 The cacique of the 
province had been to visit the Governor, Don Hernando de 
Soto, at Autiamque, where he took him presents of shawls, 
skins, and salt. The day before Luys de Moscoso arrived, a 
sick Christian becoming missed, whom the Indians were sus- 
pected to have killed, he sent word to the cacique to look for 

1 This province was probably on Saline River, in Saline County. From 
here they turned to the south-southeast. 



1542] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 237 

and return him — that in so doing he would continue to be his 
friend; if otherwise, the cacique should not hide from him 
anywhere, nor he nor his, and that he would leave his country 
in ashes. The chief directly came, and, bringing the Chris- 
tian, with a large gift of shawls and skins, he made this speech : 

Excellent Master: 

I would not deserve that opinion you have of me for all the 
wealth of the world. Who impelled me to visit and serve that ex- 
cellent lord, the Governor, your father, in Autiamque, which you 
should have remembered, where I offered myself, with all loyalty, 
truth, and love, to serve and obey his lifetime : or what could have 
been my purpose, having received favors of him, and without either 
of you having done me any injury, that I should be moved to do 
that which I should not? Believe me, no outrage, nor worldly 
interest, could have been equal to making me act thus, or could 
have so blinded me. Since, however, in this life, the natural course 
is, after one pleasure should succeed many pains, fortune has been 
pleased with your indignation to moderate the joy I felt in my 
heart at your coming, and have failed where I aimed to hit, in 
pleasing this Christian, who remained behind lost, treating him in 
a manner of which he shall himself speak, thinking that in this I 
should do you service, and intending to come with and deliver him 
to you at Chaguate, serving you in all things, to the extent possible 
in my power. If for this I deserve punishment from your hand, I 
shall receive it, as coming from my master's, as though it were favor. 

The Governor answered, that because he had not found him 
in Chaguete he was incensed, supposing that he had kept away, 
as others had done ; but that, as he now knew his loyalty and 
love, he would ever consider him a brother, and would favor 
him in all matters. The cacique went with him to the town 
where he resided, the distance of a day's journey. They passed 
through a small town where was a lake, and the Indians made 
salt : the Christians made some on the day they rested there, 
from water that rose near by from springs in pools. The Gov- 
ernor was six days in Chaguete, where he informed himself of 
the people there were to the west. He heard that three days' 
journey distant, was a province called Aguacay. 



238 SPANISH EXPLOEEES [1542 

On leaving Chaguete, a Christian remained behind, named 
Francisco de Guzman, bastard son of a gentleman of Seville, 
who, in fear of being made to pay for gaming debts in the per- 
son of an Indian girl, his concubine, he took her away with him ; 
and the Governor, having marched two days before he was 
missed, sent word to the cacique to seek for and send him to 
Aguacay, whither he was marching, but the chief never did. 
Before arriving at this province, they received five Indians, 
coming with a gift of skins, fish, and roasted venison, sent on 
the part of the cacique. The Governor reached his town on 
Wednesday, the fourth day of July, 1 and finding it unoccupied, 
lodged there. He remained in it a while, making some in- 
roads, in which many Indians of both sexes were captured. 
There they heard of the South Sea. Much salt was got out of 
the sand, gathered in a vein of earth like slate, and was made 
as they make it in Cay as. 

Chapter 32 

How the Governor went from Aguacay to Naguatex, and what 

happened to him. 

The day the Governor left Aguacay he went to sleep near 
a small town, subject to the lord of that province. He set the 
encampment very nigh a salt lake, 2 and that afternoon some 
salt was made. He marched the next day, and slept between 
two mountains, in an open grove; the next after, he arrived 
at a small town called Pato ; and on the fourth day of his de- 
parture from Aguacay he came to the first inhabited place, 
in a province called Amaye. There they took an Indian, who 
said that thence to Naguatex was a day and a half's journey, 
all the way lying through an inhabited region. 

Having passed out of Amaye, on Saturday, the twentieth 
of July, 3 between that place and Naguatex, at mid-day, along 

1 The fourth of July was Tuesday. 

2 This town and lake were on the west side of Quachita Eiver, about two 
miles south of Arkadelphia, in Clark County. 

3 The twentieth of July was Thursday. 



1542] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 239 

a clump of luxuriant woods/ the camp was seated. From 
thence Indians being seen, who had come to espy them, those 
on horseback went in their pursuit, killed six, and captured two. 
The prisoners being asked by the Governor why they had come, 
they said, to discover the numbers he had, and their condition, 
having been sent by their lord, the chief of Naguatex ; and that 
he, with other caciques, who came in his company and his 
cause, had determined on giving him battle that day. 

While thus conferring, many Indians advanced, formed in 
two squadrons, who, so soon as they saw that they were de- 
scried, giving whoops, they assailed the Christians with great 
fury, each on a different quarter; but finding how firm was 
the resistance, they turned, and fleeing, many lost their lives; 
the greater part of the cavalry pursuing them, forgetful of the 
camp, when those that remained were attacked by other two 
squadrons, that had lain in concealment, who, in their turn, 
having been withstood, paid the penalty that the first had done. 

When the Christians came together, after the Indians fled, 
they heard loud shouting, at the distance of a crossbow-shot 
from where they were; and the Governor sent twelve cav- 
alry to see what might be the cause. Six Christians were 
found amidst numerous Indians, two, that were mounted, 
defending four on foot, with great difficulty; and they, as 
well as those who went to their succor, finally ended by 
killing many. They had got lost from those who followed 
after the first squadrons, and, in returning to the camp, fell 
among them with whom they were found fighting. One 
Indian, brought back alive, being asked by the Governor who 
they were that had come to give him battle, said the cacique 
of Naguatex, the one of Maye, and another of a province called 
Hacanac, lord of great territories and numerous vassals, he of 
Naguatex being in command. The Governor, having ordered 
his right arm to be cut off, and his nose, sent him to the cacique, 
with word that he would march the next day into his territory 
to destroy it, and that if he wished to dispute his entrance to 
await him. 

1 Probably on Prairie de Roane, near Hope. 



240 SPANISH EXPLOEEES [1542 

The Governor stopped there that night, and the following 
day he came to the habitations of Naguatex, which were 
much scattered, and having asked for the town of the cacique, 
he was told that it stood on the opposite side of a river near 
by. He marched thitherward; and coming to the river, 1 
on the other bank he saw many Indians awaiting him, set in 
order to defend the passage ; but, as he did not know whether 
it might be forded or not, nor whereabouts it could be crossed, 
and having some wounded men and horses, he determined to 
repose for some time in the town where he was, until they 
should be healed. 

In consequence of the great heats that prevailed, he pitched 
his camp a quarter of a league from the river, in a fine open 
grove of high trees, near a brook, close to the town. Some 
Indians taken there, having been asked if the river was ford- 
able, said yes, at times it was, in certain places ; on the tenth 
day he sent two captains, each with fifteen cavalry, one up 
and the other down the stream, with guides to show where 
they might get over, to see what towns were to be found on the 
opposite side. They were both opposed by the Indians, who 
defended the passages the best they could; but these being 
taken notwithstanding, on the other shore they found many 
habitations, with much subsistence; and having seen this, 
the detachments went back to the camp. 

Chapter 33 

How the cacique of Naguatex came to visit the Governor, and how 
the Governor went thence, and arrived at Nondacao. 

From Naguatex, where the Governor was, he sent a mes- 
sage to the cacique, that, should he come to serve and obey him, 
he would pardon the past ; and if he did not, he would go to 
look after him, and would inflict the chastisement he deserved 
for what he had done. At the end of two days the Indian got 
back, bringing word that to-morrow the cacique would come. 

1 Little Eiver, in Hempstead County. 



1542] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 241 

The day before his arrival, the chief sent many Indians in ad- 
vance of him, among whom were some principal men, to dis- 
cover in what mood the Governor was, and determine whether 
he would himself come or not. They went back directly as 
they had announced his approach, the cacique arriving in a 
couple of hours afterward, well attended by his people. They 
came one before another, in double file, leaving an opening 
through the midst, where he walked. They arrived in the 
Governor's presence weeping, after the usage of Tula (thence 
to the eastward not very distant), when the chief, making his 
proper obeisance, thus spoke : 

Very High and Powerful Lord, whom all the Earth should 
serve and obey: 

I venture to appear before you, after having been guilty of so 
great and bad an act, that, for only having thought of it, I merit 
punishment. Trusting in your greatness, although I do not de- 
serve pardon, yet for your own dignity you will show me mercy, 
having regard to my inferiority in comparison with you, forgetting 
my weakness, which to my sorrow, and for my greater good, I 
have come to know. 

I believe that you and yours must be immortal ; that you are 
master of the things of nature; since you subject them all, and 
they obey you, even the very hearts of men. Witnessing the 
slaughter and destruction of my men in battle, which came of my 
ignorance, and the counsel of a brother of mine, who fell in the 
action, from my heart did I repent the error that I committed, and 
directly I desired to serve and obey you : wherefore have I come, 
that you may chastise and command me as your own. 

The Governor replied, that the past would be forgiven; 
and that, should he thenceforward do his duty, he would be 
his friend, favoring him in all matters. 

At the end of four days Luys de Moscoso set forward, and 
arrived at a river he could not pass, 1 it ran so full, which to 
him appeared wonderful at the time, more than a month having 
gone by since there had been rain. The Indians said, that it 

1 Red River. 



242 SPANISH EXPLOEEES [1542 

often increased in that manner, without there being rain any- 
where, in all the country. It was supposed to be caused by the 
sea entering in; but he learned that the water always flowed 
from above, and that the Indians nowhere had any information 
of the sea. 

The Governor returned back to where he had been the last 
days; and, at the end of eight more, understanding that the 
river might then be crossed, he left, and passed over to the 
other bank, 1 where he found houses, but no people. He 
lodged out in the fields, and sent word to the cacique to come 
where he was, and to give him a guide to go on with. After 
some days, finding that the cacique did not come, nor send any 
one, he despatched two captains, each of them in a different 
direction, to set fire to the towns, and seize the people that 
might be found. They burned much provision, and captured 
many Indians. The cacique, seeing the damage his territories 
were receiving, sent five principal men to Moscoso, with three 
guides, who understood the language farther on, whither he 
would go. 

Directly the Governor set out from Naguatex, arriving, on 
the third day, at a hamlet of four or five houses, belonging to 
the cacique of the poor province named Nissohone, a thinly 
peopled country, having little maize. Two days' journey on 
the way, the Indians who guided the Governor, in place of 
taking him to the west, would lead him to the east, and at times 
they went through heavy thickets, out of the road : in conse- 
quence, he ordered that they should be hanged upon a tree. 
A woman, taken in Nissohone, served as the guide, who went 
back to find the road. 

In two days' time the Governor came to another miserable 
country, called Lacane. An Indian was taken, who said the 
land of Nondacao was very populous, the houses much scat- 
tered, as in mountainous regions, and there was plenty of 
maize. The cacique came with his Indians, weeping, as those 
of Naguatex had done, which is, according to their custom, 

1 This ford was located about three miles east of the line between Texas 
and Arkansas, in the latter state, and is known as White Oak Shoals. 



1542] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 243 

significant of obedience ; and he made a present of much fish, 
offering to do whatsoever might be required of him. He took 
his departure, leaving a guide for the province of Soacatino. 



Chapter 34 

How the Governor marched from Nondacao to Soacatino and 
Guasco, passing through a wilderness, whence, for want 
of a guide and interpreter, he retired to Nilco. 

The Governor set out from Nondacao for Soacatino, and 
on the fifth day came to a province called Aays. 1 The in- 
habitants had never heard of the Christians. So soon as they 
observed them entering the territory the people were called out, 
who, as fast as they could get together, came by fifties and 
hundreds on the road, to give battle. While some encountered 
us, others fell upon our rear ; and when we followed up those, 
these pursued us. The attack continued during the greater 
part of the day, until we arrived at their town. Some men 
were injured, and some horses, but nothing so as to hinder 
travel, there being not one dangerous wound among all. The 
Indians suffered great slaughter. 

The day on which the Governor departed, the guide told 
him he had heard it said in Nondacao, that the Indians of 
Soacatino had seen other Christians; at which we were all 
delighted, thinking it might be true, and that they could have 
come by the way of New Spain ; for if it were so, finding nothing 
in Florida of value, we should be able to go out of it, there being 
fear we might perish in some wilderness. The Governor, hav- 
ing been led for two days out of the way, ordered that the Ind- 
ian be put to the torture, when he confessed that his master, 
the cacique of Nondacao, had ordered him to take them in 
that manner, we being his enemies, and he, as his vassal, was 
bound to obey him. He was commanded to be cast to the dogs, 

1 This was apparently to the southward of Gainesville, Texas, the town 
being located just west of the "Lower Cross Timbers," on the prairie. 



244 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1542 

and another Indian guided us to Soacatino, 1 where we came 
the following day. 

The country was very poor, and the want of maize was 
greatly felt. The natives being asked if they had any knowl- 
edge of other Christians, said they had heard that near there, 
towards the south, such men were moving about. For twenty 
days the march was through a very thinly peopled country, 
where great privation and toil were endured; the little maize 
there was, the Indians having buried in the scrub, where the 
Christians, at the close of the day's march, when they were 
well weary, went trailing, to seek for what they needed of it 
to eat. 

Arrived at a province called Guasco, 2 they found maize, 
with which they loaded the horses and the Indians; thence 
they went to another settlement, called Naquiscoc,a, the inhab- 
itants of which said that they had no knowledge of any other 
Christians. The Governor ordered them put to torture, when 
they stated that farther on, in the territories of another chief, 
called NaQacahoz, 3 the Christians had arrived, and gone back 
toward the west, whence they came. He reached there in two 
days, and took some women, among whom was one who said 
that she had seen Christians, and, having been in their hands, 
had made her escape from them. The Governor sent a cap- 
tain with fifteen cavalry to where she said they were seen, to 
discover if there were any marks of horses, or signs of any Chris- 
tians having been there ; and after travelling three or four 
leagues, she who was the guide declared that all she had said 
was false; and so it was deemed of everything else the 
Indians had told of having seen Christians in Florida. 

As the region thereabout was scarce of maize, and no in- 
formation could be got of any inhabited country to the west, 



1 This place was apparently located in the "Upper Cross Timbers." The 
Spaniards here turned to the southward. 

2 Waco. The town was evidently located on the Brazos River, near 
old Fort Belknap, in Young County, Texas. 

3 These two provinces were to the southeast of Guasco, in the Brazos 
valley. 



1542] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 245 

the Governor went back to Guasco. The residents stated, that 
ten days' journey from there, toward the sunset, was a river 
called Daycao, 1 whither they sometimes went to drive and kill 
deer, and whence they had seen persons on the other bank, 
but without knowing what people they were. The Christians 
took as much maize as they could find, to carry with them; 
and journeying ten days through a wilderness, 2 they arrived 
at the river of which the Indians had spoken. Ten horsemen 
sent in advance by the Governor had crossed ; and, following 
a road leading up from the bank, they came upon an encamp- 
ment of Indians living in very small huts, who, directly as they 
saw the Christians, took to flight, leaving what they had, indi- 
cations only of poverty and misery. So wretched was the 
country, that what was found everywhere, put together, was 
not half an alqueire of maize. 3 Taking two natives, they went 
back to the river, where the Governor waited ; and on coming 
to question the captives, to ascertain what towns there might be 
to the west, no Indian was found in the camp who knew their 
language. 

The Governor commanded the captains and principal per- 
sonages to be called together that he might determine now 
by their opinions what was best to do. The majority declared 
it their judgment to return to the River Grande of Guachoya, 
because in Anilco and thereabout was much maize ; that during 
the winter they would build brigantines, and the following 
spring go down the river in them in quest of the sea, where 
having arrived, they would follow the coast thence along to 
New Spain, — an enterprise which, although it appeared to be 
one difficult to accomplish, yet from their experience it offered 
the only course to be pursued. They could not travel by land, 
for want of an interpreter; and they considered the country 

1 Probably the Double Mountain fork of Brazos River. The crossing 
was probably made at the south angle of the river, in the northwestern 
part of Fisher County, Texas. 

2 A continuous forest extends from old Fort Belknap to the eastern slope 
of the "Staked Plains," and is the only one through which they could have 
marched for ten days to the westward. 

3 I.e., less than a peck. 



246 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1542 

farther on, beyond the River Daycao, on which they were, to 
be that which Cabega de Vaca had said in his narrative should 
have to be traversed, where the Indians wandered like Arabs, 
having no settled place of residence, living on prickly pears, 
the roots of plants, and game ; and that if this should be so, 
and they, entering upon that tract, found no provision for sus- 
tenance during winter, they must inevitably perish, it being 
already the beginning of October ; and if they remained any 
longer where they were, what with rains and snow, they should 
neither be able to fall back, nor, in a land so poor as that, to 
subsist. 

The Governor, who longed to be again where he could get his 
full measure of sleep, rather than govern and go conquering a 
country so beset for him with hardships, directly returned, 
getting back from whence he came. 

Chapter 35 

How the Christians returned to Nilco, and thence went to Minoya, 
where they prepared to build vessels in which to leave 
Florida. 

When what had been determined on was proclaimed in the 
camp, many were greatly disheartened. They considered the 
voyage by sea to be very hazardous, because of their poor sub- 
sistence, and as perilous as was the journey by land, whereon 
they had looked to find a rich country, before coming to the soil 
of Christians. This was according to what Cabega de Vaca 
told the Emperor, that after seeing cotton cloth, would be found 
gold, silver, and stones of much value, and they were not yet 
come to where he had wandered ; for before arriving there, he 
had always travelled along the coast, and they were marching 
far within the land; hence by keeping toward the west they 
must unavoidably come to where he had been, as he said that 
he had gone about in a certain region a long time, and marched 
northward into the interior. Now, in Guasco, they had already 
found some turquoises, and shawls of cotton, which the Indians 
gave them to understand, by signs, were brought from the 



1542] EXPEDITION OE HERNANDO DE SOTO 247 

direction of the sunset; so that they who should take that 
course must approach the country of Christians. 

There was likewise much other discontent. Many grieved 
to go back, and would rather have continued to run the peril 
of their lives than leave Florida poor. They were not equal, 
however, to changing what was resolved on, as the persons of 
importance agreed with the Governor. There was one, never- 
theless, who said afterwards that he would willingly pluck 
out an eye, to put out another for Luys de Moscoso, so greatly 
would he grieve to see him prosper; with such bitterness did 
he inveigh against him and some of his friends, which he would 
not have dared to do, only he knew that in a couple of days 
from that time the government would have to be relinquished. 

From Daycao, where they were, to the Rio Grande, was a 
distance of one hundred and fifty leagues, which they had 
marched, toward that place, always westwardly ; and, as they 
returned over the way, with great difficulty could they find 
maize to eat; for, wheresoever they had passed, the country 
lay devastated, and the little that was left, the Indians had now 
hidden. The towns they had burned in Naguatex, of which 
they had repented, they found already rebuilt, and the houses 
full of maize. That country is populous and abundant. Pot- 
tery is made there of clay, little differing from that of Estremoz 
or Montemor. 

To Chaguete, by command of the cacique, the Indians came 
in peace, and said, that the Christian who had remained there 
would not come. The Governor wrote to him, sending ink 
and paper, that he might answer. The purport of the letter 
stated his determination to leave Florida, reminded him of his 
being a Christian, and that he was unwilling to leave him 
among heathen ; that he would pardon the error he had com- 
mitted in going to the Indians, should he return ; and that if 
they should wish to detain him, to let the Governor know by 
writing. The Indian who took the letter came back, bringing 
no other response than the name and rubric of the person 
written on the back, to signify that he was alive. The Governor 
sent twelve mounted men after him ; but, having his watchers, 



248 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1542 

he so hid himself that he could not be found. For want of 
maize the Governor could not tarry longer to look for him; 
so he left Chaguete, crossed the river at Aays/ and following it 
down, he discovered a town which they had not seen before, 
called Chilano. 

They came to Nilco, where the Governor found so little 
maize, that there was not enough to last while they made the 
vessels; for during seed-time, while the Christians were in 
Guachoya, the Indians, in fear of them, had not dared to 
come and plant the grounds; and no other land about there 
was known to have maize, that being the most fertile region 
of the vicinity, and where they had the most hope of finding 
sustenance. Everybody was confounded. 

Many thought it bad counsel to have come back from the 
Daycao, and not to have taken the risk of continuing in the 
way they were going by land; as it seemed impossible they 
should escape by sea, unless a miracle might be wrought for 
them; for there was neither pilot nor sea-chart; they knew 
not where the river entered the sea, nor of the sea could they 
get any information ; they had nothing out of which to make 
sails, nor for rope a sufficiency of enequen (a grass growing there, 
which is like hemp), and what they did find was saved for 
calk ; nor was there wherewith to pitch them. Neither could 
they build vessels of such strength that any accident might not 
put them in jeopardy of life ; and they greatly feared that what 
befell Narvaez, who was lost on the coast, might happen to 
them also. But the most of all they feared was the want of 
maize; for without that they could not support themselves, 
or do anything they would. All were in great dismay. 

The Christians chose to commend themselves to God for 
relief, and beseech Him to point them out a way by which they 
might be saved. By His Goodness He was pleased that the 
people of Anilco should come peacefully, and state that two 
days' journey thence, near the River Grande, were two towns 
of which the Christians had not heard, in a fertile country 

1 This name should be Ayays, — the old crossing-place on the Arkansas- 
River, above Pine Bluff. 



1542] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 249 

named Aminoya ; but whether it then contained maize or not, 
they were unable to tell, as they were at war with those places ; 
they would nevertheless be greatly pleased to go and destroy 
them, with the aid of the Christians. The Governor sent a 
captain thither, with horsemen and footmen, and the Indians 
of Anilco. Arriving at Aminoya, 1 he found two large towns 
in a level, open field, half a league apart, in sight of each other, 
where he captured many persons, and found a large quantity 
of maize. He took lodging in one of the towns, and directly 
sent a message to the Governor concerning what he had found, 
with which all were well content. They set out from Anilco 
in the beginning of December, and on that march, as well as 
before coming there from Chilano, they underwent great ex- 
posure; for they passed through much water, and rain fell 
many times, bringing a north wind, with severe cold, so that 
when in the field they had the water both above and below 
them; and if at the end of a day's journey they found dry 
ground to lie upon, they had occasion to be thankful. In 
these hardships nearly all the Indians in service died, and also 
many Christians, after coming to Aminoya ; the greater num- 
ber being sick of severe and dangerous diseases, marked with 
inclination to lethargy. Andre de Vasconcelos died there, and 
two Portuguese brothers of Elvas, near of kin to him, by the 
name of Soti. 

The Christians chose for their quarters what appeared to 
be the best town : it was stockaded, and stood a quarter of a 
league distant from the Rio Grande. The maize that lay in the 
other town was brought there, and when together the quantity 
was estimated to be six thousand fanegas. 2 For the building 
of ships better timber was found than had been seen elsewhere 
in all Florida; on which account, all rendered many thanks 
to God for so signal mercy, encouraging the hope in them, 
that they should be successful in their wish to reach a shore of 
Christians. 

1 The town was located above the mouth of the Arkansas River, in 
Desha County, Arkansas. 

2 The fanega of Lisbon was somewhat more than a pint. 



250 SPANISH EXPLOKERS [1543 

Chapter 36 

How seven brigantines were built, and the Christians took their 
departure from Aminoya. 

So soon as the Christians arrived in Aminoya, the Governor 
commanded the chains to be collected which every one brought 
along for Indians, the iron in shot, and what was in the camp. 
He ordered a furnace to be set up for making spikes, and like- 
wise timber to be cut down for the brigantines. A Portuguese, 
of Ceuta, had learned to saw lumber while a captive in Fez; 
and saws had been brought for that purpose, with which he 
taught others, who assisted him. A Genoese, whom God had 
been pleased to spare (as without him we could not have gone 
away, there being not another person who knew how to con- 
struct vessels), built the brigantines with the help of four or 
five Biscay an carpenters, who hewed the plank and ribs for 
him; and two calkers, one a Genoese, the other a Sardinian, 
closed them up with the oakum, got from a plant like hemp, 
called enequen, of which I have before spoken; but from its 
scarcity the flax of the country was likewise used, as well as 
the ravellings of shawls. The cooper sickened to the point 
of death, and there was not another workman; but God 
was pleased to give him health, and notwithstanding he 
was very thin, and unfit to labor, fifteen days before the 
vessels sailed, he had made for each of them two of the half- 
hogsheads sailors call quartos, four of them holding a pipe of 
water. 

The Indians of a province called Tagoanate, two days' 
journey up the river, likewise those of Anilco and Guachoya, 
and other neighboring people, seeing the vessels were building, 
thought, as their places of concealment were by the water's 
side, that it was the purpose to come in quest of them; and 
because the Governor had asked for shawls, as necessary out of 
which to make sails, they came often, and brought many, as 
likewise a great deal of fish. 

Of a verity, it did appear that God chose to favor the 



1543] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 251 

Christians in their extreme need, disposing the Indians to 
bring the garments; otherwise, there had been no way but 
to go and fetch them. Then the town where they were, as 
soon as the winter should set in, would become so surrounded 
by water, and isolated, that no one could travel from it by land 
farther than a league, or a league and a half, when the horses 
could no longer be used. Without them we were unable to 
contend, the Indians being so numerous; besides, man to 
man on foot, whether in the water or on dry ground, they 
were superior, being more skilful and active, and the condi- 
tions of the country more favorable to the practice of their 
warfare. 

They also brought us ropes; and the cables needed were 
made from the bark of the mulberry-trees. Anchors were 
made of stirrups, for which others of wood were substituted. 
In March, more than a month having passed since rain fell, 
the river became so enlarged that it reached Nilco, nine leagues 
off ; and the Indians said, that on the opposite side it also 
extended an equal distance over the country. 

The ground whereon the town stood was higher, and where 
the going was best, the water reached to the stirrups. Rafts 
were made of trees, upon which were placed many boughs, 
whereon the horses stood ; and in the houses were like arrange- 
ments; yet, even this not proving sufficient, the people as- 
cended into the lofts ; and when they went out of the houses it 
was in canoes, or, if on horseback, they went in places where 
the earth was highest. 

Such was our situation for two months, in which time the 
river did not fall, and no work could be done. The natives, 
coming in canoes, did not cease to visit the brigantines. The 
Governor, fearing they would attack him in that time, ordered 
one of those coming to the town to be secretly seized, and kept 
until the rest were gone; which being done, he directed that 
the prisoner should be tortured, in order to draw out from him 
any plotting of treason that might exist. The captive said, 
that the caciques of Nilco, Guachoya, Taguanate, and others, 
in all some twenty, had determined to come upon him, with 



252 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1543 

a great body of people. Three days before they should do so, 
the better to veil their evil purpose and perfidy, they were to 
send a present of fish ; and on the day itself, another present 
was to be sent in advance of them, by some Indians, who, 
with others in the conspiracy, that were serving, should set 
fire to the houses, after getting possession of the lances placed 
near the doors of the dwellings, when the caciques, with 
all their people, being concealed in the thicket nigh the 
town, on seeing the flame, should hasten to make an end of 
them. 

The Governor ordered the Indian to be put in a chain; 
and on the day that was stated, thirty men having come with 
fish, he commanded their right hands to be cut off, sending 
word by them to the cacique of Guachoya, whose they were, 
that he and his might come when they pleased, he desired noth- 
ing better, but they should learn that they could not think of a 
thing that he did not know their thought before them. At 
this they were all greatly terrified ; the caciques of Nilco and 
Taguanate came to make excuses, and a few days after came 
the cacique of Guachoya, with a principal Indian, his vassal, 
stating that he had certain information of an agreement be- 
tween the caciques of Nilco and Taguanate to come and give 
the Christians battle. 

So soon as some Indians arrived from Nilco, the Governor 
questioned them, and they confirming what was said, he de- 
livered them at once to the principal Indian of Guachoya, who 
took them out of the town and killed them. The next day 
came others from Taguanate, who likewise having confessed, 
the Governor commanded that their right hands and their 
noses should be cut off, and he sent them to the cacique. With 
this procedure the people of Guachoya were well satisfied, and 
often came with presents of shawls and fish, and of hogs, which 
were the breeding of some sows lost there the year before. 
Having persuaded the Governor to send people to Taguanate, 
so soon as the waters fell, they brought canoes, in which infan- 
try went down [up] the river, and a captain proceeded by 
land with cavalry ; and having guided them until they came to 



1543] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 253 

Taguanate, 1 the Christians assaulted the town, took many 
men and women, and shawls, which, with what they had 
already, sufficed for their want. 

In the month of June the brigantines were finished, and the 
Indians having stated that the river rose but once in the year, 
which was with the melting of snow, that had already passed, 
it being now summer, and a long time since rain had fallen, 
God was pleased that the water should come up to the town, 
where the vessels were, whence they floated into the river; 
for had they been taken over ground, there would have been 
danger of tearing open the bottoms, thereby entirely wrecking 
them, the planks being thin, and the spikes made short for the 
lack of iron. 

In the time that the Christians were there, the people of 
Aminoya came to offer their service, being compelled by hunger 
to beg some ears of that corn which had been taken from them. 
As the country was fertile, they were accustomed to subsist 
on maize ; and as all that they possessed had been seized, and 
the population was numerous, they could not exist. Those 
who came to the town were weak, and so lean that they had not 
flesh on their bones, and many died near by, of clear hunger and 
debility. The Governor ordered, under pain of heavy punish- 
ments, that maize should not be given to them ; still, when it 
was seen that they were willing to work, and that the hogs had 
a plenty, the men, pitying their misery and destitution, would 
share their grain with them ; so that when the time arrived for 
departure, there was not enough left to answer for what was 
needed. That which remained was put into the brigantines and 
the great canoes, which were tied together in couples. Twenty- 
two horses were taken on board, being the best there were in 
the camp ; the flesh of the rest was jerked, as was also that of 
the hogs that remained. On the second day of July, of the 
year one thousand five hundred and forty-three, we took our 
departure from Aminoya. 

1 This province was on White River, and the town was probably in 
the southern part of Monroe County, Arkansas, possibly at Indian 
Bay. 



254 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1543 

Chapter 37 

How the Christians, on their voyage, were attacked in the river, 
by the Indians of Quigualtam, and what happened. 

The day before the Christians left Aminoya, it was deter- 
mined to dismiss the men and women that were serving, with 
the exception of some hundred slaves, more or less, put on 
board by the Governor, and by those he favored. As there 
were many persons of condition, whom he could not refuse 
What he allowed to others, he made use of an artifice, saying, 
that while they should be going down the river they might 
have the use of them ; but on coming to the sea they would have 
to be left, because of the necessity for water, and there were 
but few casks; while he secretly told his friends to take the 
slaves, that they would carry them to New Spain. All those 
to whom he bore ill-will, the greater number, not suspecting 
his concealment from them, which after a while appeared, 
thought it inhuman for so short service, in return for so much 
as the natives had done, to take them away, to be left captives 
out of their territories, in the hands of other Indians, abandon- 
ing five hundred males and females, among whom were many 
boys and girls who understood and spoke Spanish. The most 
of them wept, which caused great compassion, as they were 
all Christians of their own free will, and were now to remain 
lost. 

In seven brigantines went three hundred and twenty-two 
Spaniards from Aminoya. The vessels were of good build, 
except that the planks were thin, on account of the shortness 
of the spikes ; and they were not pitched, nor had they decks 
to shed the water that might enter them, but planks were placed 
instead, upon which the mariners might run to fasten the sails, 
and the people accommodate themselves above and below. 

The Governor appointed his captains, giving to each of them 
his brigantine, taking their word and oath to obey him until 
they should come to the land of Christians. He chose for 
himself the brigantine he liked best. On the day of his depar- 



1543] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 255 

ture they passed by Guachoya, where the Indians, in canoes, 
were waiting for them in the river, having made a great arbor 
on the shore, to which they invited him, but he made excuse, 
and passed along. They accompanied him until arriving 
where an arm of the river extends to the right, 1 near which 
they said was Quigualtam; and they importuned him to go 
and make war upon it, offering their assistance. As they, 
told him there were three days' journey down the river to that 
province, suspecting they had arranged some perfidy, he dis- 
missed them there; then, submitting himself to where lay 
the full strength of the stream, went his voyage, driven on 
rapidly by the power of the current and aid of oars. 

On the first day they came to land in a clump of trees, by 
the left bank, and at dark they retired to the vessels. The 
following day they came to a town, where they went on shore, 
but the occupants dared not tarry for them. A woman who 
was captured, being questioned, said the town was that of a 
chief named Huhasene, a subject of Quigualtam, who, with 
a great many people, was waiting for them. Mounted men 
Went down the river, and finding some houses, in which was 
much maize, immediately the rest followed. They tarried 
there a day, in which they shelled and got ready as much maize 
as was needed. In this time many Indians came up the river 
in canoes ; and, on the opposite side, in front, somewhat care- 
lessly put themselves in order of battle. The Governor sent 
after them the crossbowmen he had with him, in two canoes, 
and as many other persons as they could hold, when the Indians 
fled ; but, seeing the Spaniards were unable to overtake them, 
returning, they took courage, and, coming nearer, menaced 
them with loud yells. So soon as the Christians retired, they 
were followed by some in canoes, and others on land, along the 
river; and, getting before them, arrived at a town near the 
river's bluff, 2 where they united, as if to make a stand. Into 

1 This was a channel connecting the Mississippi River with Bayou Macon, 
and was located in the northern part of Chicot County, Arkansas. 

2 From the time and distance travelled, this place was at the Vicks- 
burg Bluffs. 



256 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1543 

each canoe, for every brigantine was towing one at the stern 
for its service, directly entered some men, who, causing the 
Indians to take flight, burned the town. Soon after, on the 
same day, they went on shore in a large open field, where 
the Indians dared not await their arrival. 

The next day a hundred canoes came together, having 
from sixty to seventy persons in them, those of the principal 
men having awnings, and themselves wearing white and colored 
plumes, for distinction. They came within two crossbow-shot 
of the brigantines, and sent a message in a small canoe, by 
three Indians, to the intent of learning the character of the 
vessels, and the weapons that we use. Arriving at the brigan- 
tine of the Governor, one of the messengers got in, and said 
that he had been sent by the cacique of Quigaltam, their lord, 
to commend him, and to make known that whatever the 
Indians of Guachoya had spoken of him was falsely said, they 
being his enemies ; that the chief was his servant, and wished 
to be so considered. The Governor told him that he believed 
all that he had stated to be true ; to say so to him, and that he 
greatly esteemed him for his friendship. 

With this the messengers went to where the others, in the 
canoes, were waiting for them ; and thence they all came down 
yelling, and approached the Spaniards with threats. The 
Governor sent Juan de Guzman, captain of foot, in the canoes, 
with twenty-five men in armor, to drive them out of the way. 
So soon as they were seen coming, the Indians, formed in two 
parts, remained quietly until they were come up with, when, 
closing, they took Juan de Guzman, and those who came ahead 
with him, in their midst, and, with great fury, closed hand to 
hand with them. Their canoes were larger than his, and many 
leaped into the water — some to support them, others to lay 
hold of the canoes of the Spaniards, to cause them to capsize, 
which was presently accomplished, the Christians falling 
into the water, and, by the weight of their armor, going to the 
bottom; or when one by swimming, or clinging to a canoe, 
could sustain himself, they with paddles and clubs, striking 
him on the head, would send him below. 



1543] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 257 

When those in the brigantines who witnessed the defeat 
desired to render succor, the force of the stream would not al- 
low them to return. One brigantine, which was that nighest 
to the canoes, saved four men, who were all of those that went 
after the Indians who escaped. Eleven lost their lives ; among 
whom was Juan de Guzman and a son of Don Carlos, named 
Juan de Vargas. The greater number of the others were also 
men of consideration and of courage. Those who escaped by 
swimming said, that they saw the Indians get into the stern 
of one of their canoes with Juan de Guzman, but whether he 
was carried away dead or alive, no one could state. 

Chapter 38 
How the Christians were pursued by the Indians. 

The natives, finding they had gained a victory, took so great 
encouragement that they proceeded to attack the brigantines, 
which they had not dared to before. They first came up with 
one in the rear-guard, commanded by Calderon, and at the first 
volley of arrows twenty-five men were wounded. There were 
only four on board in armor, who went to the side of the vessel 
for its defence. Those unprotected, finding how they were 
getting hurt, left the oars, placing themselves below under the 
cover ; and the brigantine, beginning to swing about, was going 
where the current of water chanced to take her, when one of the 
men in armor, seeing this, without waiting the captain's order, 
made one of the infantry take the oar and steer, while he stood 
before to cover him with his shield. The Indians afterwards 
came no nearer than bow-shot, whence they could assail with- 
out being assaulted, or receiving injury, there being in each 
brigantine only a single crossbow much out of order ; so that 
the Christians had little else to do than to stand as objects to 
be shot at, watching for the shafts. The natives, having left 
this brigantine, went to another, against which they fought 
for half an hour : and one after another, in this way they ran 
through with them all. 

The Christians had mats with them to lie upon of two thick- 



258 SPANISH EXPLOEEES [1543 

nesses, very close and strong, so that no arrow could pierce 
them, and these, when safety required, were hung up ; and the 
Indians, finding that these could not be traversed, directed their 
shafts upward, which, exhausted, fell on board, inflicting some 
wounds. Not satisfied with this, they strove to get at the men 
with the horses; but the brigantines were brought about the 
canoes in which they were, to give them protection, and in 
this position conducted them along. The Christians, finding 
themselves thus severely tried, and so worn out that they could 
bear up no longer, determined to continue their journey in the 
dark, thinking that they should be left alone on getting through 
the region of Quigualtam. While they proceeded and were 
least watchful, supposing themselves to be left, they would be 
roused with deafening yells near by ; and thus were they an- 
noyed through the night and until noon, when they got into 
another country, to the people of which they were recom- 
mended for a like treatment, and received it. 

Those Indians having gone back to their country, these fol- 
lowed the Christians in fifty canoes, fighting them all one day 
and night. They sprang on board a brigantine of the rear- 
guard, by the canoe that floated at the stern, whence they took 
out an Indian woman, and wounded from thence some men in 
the brigantines. The men with the horses in the canoes, becom- 
ing weary with rowing day and night, at times got left behind, 
when the Indians would directly set upon them, and those in 
the brigantines would wait until they should come up : so that 
in consequence of the slow way that was made, because of the 
beasts, the Governor determined to go on shore and slaughter 
them. So soon as any befitting ground for it was seen, a land- 
ing was made, the animals were butchered, and the meat cured 
and brought on board. Four or five horses having been let go 
alive, the Indians, after the Spaniards had embarked, went 
up to them, to whom being unused, they were alarmed, running 
up and down, neighing in such a way that the Indians took 
fright, plunging into the water; and thence entering their 
canoes, they went after the brigantines, shooting at the people 
without mercy, following them that evening and the night en- 



1543] EXPEDITION OF HEENANDO DE SOTO 259 

suing, until ten o'clock the next day, when they returned up- 
stream. 

From a small town near the bank, there came out seven 
canoes that pursued the Christians a short distance, shooting at 
them ; but finding, as they were few, that little harm was done, 
they went back. From that time forth the voyage, until near 
the end, was unattended by any misadventure ; the Christians 
in seventeen days going down a distance of two hundred and 
fifty leagues, 1 a little more or less, by the river. When near 
the sea, it becomes divided into two arms, each of which may 
be a league and a half broad. 

Chapter 39 

How the Christians came to the sea, what occurred then, and what 
befell them on the voyage. 

Half a league before coming to the sea, the Christians cast 
anchor, in order to take rest for a time, as they were weary 
from rowing. They were disheartened also, many days having 
gone by since they had eaten other thing than maize, parched 
and then boiled, given out in daily rations of a casque by 
strike to a mess of three. 

While riding at anchor, seven canoes of natives came to 
attack those we had brought in the canoes along with us. The 
Governor ordered men to enter ours in armor, to go after the 
Indians and drive them away. There also came some by land, 
through thicket and bog, with staves, having very sharp heads 
of fish-bone, who fought valiantly those of us who went out 
to meet them. Such as were'in the canoes, awaited with their 
arrows the approach of those sent against them ; and presently, 
on the engaging of these, as well as those on land, they wounded 
some on our side in both contests. When we on shore drew 
nigh to them they would turn their backs, running like fleet 
steeds before infantry, making some turns without ever getting 
much beyond the flight of an arrow, and, returning again, they 

1 The Inca gives the distance as being seven hundred and fifty leagues. 
The real distance was about seven hundred and twenty miles. 



260 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1543 

would shoot without receiving any injury from us, who, though 
we had some bows, were not skilled to use them ; while the Ind- 
ians on the water, finding their pursuers unable to do them 
harm, though straining at the oars to overtake them, leisurely 
kept within a circle, their canoes pausing and returning, as in a 
skirmish. The men discovered that the more successful their 
efforts to approach, the greater was their own injury; so, 
when they succeeded simply in driving them off, they went 
back to the brigantines. 

After remaining two days, the Christians went to where 
that branch of the river enters the sea; and having sounded 
there, they found forty fathoms depth of water. Pausing then, 
the Governor required that each should give his opinion re- 
specting the voyage, whether they should sail to New Spain 
direct, by the high sea, or go thither keeping along from shore 
to shore. There were different opinions upon this, in which 
Juan de Anasco, who was very presumptuous, valuing himself 
much upon his knowledge of navigation, with other matters 
of the sea of which he had little experience, influenced the 
Governor ; and his opinion, like that of some others, was, that 
it would be much better to put out to sea, and cross the Gulf 
by a passage three-fourths less far, than going from shore to 
shore, which was very circuitous, because of the bend made by 
the land. He said that he had seen the sea-chart ; that whence 
they were the coast ran west to the River of Palmas, and thence 
south to New Spain; consequently, that keeping in sight of 
land, there would be wide compassing, with long detention, 
and risk of being overtaken by the winter before coming to the 
country of Christians ; while, with a fair wind, in ten or twelve 
days' time they should arrive there, by keeping a straight 
course. 

The majority were not of that way of thinking, and said 
there was more safety in going along the coast, though it 
might take longer ; the vessels being frail, and without decks, 
a light storm might suffice to wreck them ; and in consequence 
of the little room they had for water, if calm or head wind 
should occur, or adverse weather, they would also run great 



1543] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 261 

hazard; but even were the vessels so substantial that they 
might venture in them, there being neither pilot nor sea-card 
to show the way, it was not wise to traverse the sea. This, 
the opinion of the greater number, was approved ; and it was 
decided to go along from one to another shore. 

When they were about to depart, the brigantine of the 
Governor parted her cable, the anchor attached to it remaining 
in the river ; and, notwithstanding she was near the shore, the 
depth was so great that, although it was industriously sought 
for by divers, it could not be found. This gave much anxiety 
to the Governor and the others on board. With a stone for 
crushing maize, and the bridles that remained, belonging to 
some of the fidalgos and gentlemen who rode, they made a 
weight that took the place of the anchor. 

On the eighteenth day of July the vessels got under way, 
with fair weather, and wind favorable for the voyage. The 
Governor, with Juan de Afiasco, put to sea in their brigantines, 
and were followed by all the rest, who, at two or three leagues 
out, having come up with the two, the captains asked the Gov- 
ernor why he did not keep the land ; and told him that if he 
meant to leave it he should say so, though he ought not to do 
that without having the consent of the rest, otherwise they 
would not follow his lead, but each would do as he thought best. 
The Governor replied that he would do nothing without con- 
sulting them ; he desired to get away from the shore to sail the 
better, and with the greater safety at night ; that in the morn- 
ing, when time served, he would return. With a favorable 
wind they sailed all that day in fresh water, the next night, 
and the day following until vespers, at which they were greatly 
amazed; for they were very distant from the shore, and so 
great was the strength of the current of the river, the coast so 
shallow and gentle, that the fresh water entered far into the 
sea. 1 

That afternoon, on the starboard bow, they saw some kays, 

1 At that time the Atchafalaya probably formed the lower course of Red 
River, the latter not having cut through to the Mississippi, and it was its 
current that they encountered. 



262 SPANISH EXPLOEEES [1543 

whither they went, and where they reposed at night. There 
Juan de Aiiasco, with his reasoning, concluded by getting all 
to consent, and deem it good, that they should go to sea, de- 
claring, as he had before said, that it would be a great gain, 
and shorten their voyage. They navigated two days, and 
when they desired to get back in sight of land they could not, 
because the wind came off from it : and on the fourth day, find- 
ing that the water was giving out, fearing extremity and peril, 
they all complained of Juan de Aiiasco, and of the Governor, 
who had listened to his advice : and all the captains declared 
they would run no farther out, and that the Governor might go 
as he chose. 

It pleased God that the wind should change a little; and, 
at the end of four days from the time of their having gone out 
to sea, by strength of arm they arrived, in want of fresh water, 
in sight of the coast, and with great labor gained it on an open 
beach. That afternoon, the wind came round from the south, 
which on that coast is a side wind, and so stiff that it threw the 
brigantines on to the land, the anchors bending in their slen- 
derness, and dragging. The Governor ordered all to leap into 
the water, on the larboard side, to hold them, and when each 
wave had passed they would launch the brigantines to seaward, 
sustaining them in this manner until the wind went down. 

Chapter 40 

How the brigantines lost sight of each other in a storm, and after- 
wards came together at a hay. 

The tempest having passed off from the beach where the 
brigantines were riding, the people went on shore. With 
mattocks they dug holes there, into which the water having 
flowed, they thence filled their pipkins. The next day they 
left; and sailing two days, they entered a basin, like a cove, 
which afforded shelter against a high wind that blew from the 
south. There they tarried, unable to leave, until the fourth 
day, when the sea subsided and they went out by rowing. They 
sailed until near evening; the wind then freshened, driving 



1543] EXPEDITION OF HEKNANDO DE SOTO 263 

them in such manner upon the land, that they regretted having 
left the harbor; for no sooner was it nightfall than the storm 
began to rise on the sea, and with its approach the wind grad- 
ually increased. The brigantines separated. The two that 
were farthest out entered an arm of the sea, a couple of leagues 
beyond the place where the others found themselves at dark. 
The five that were astern remained from half a league to a league 
apart, along an exposed beach, upon which the winds and waves 
were casting them, without one vessel's knowing the fate of 
another. The anchors having yielded, the vessels were drag- 
ging them: the oars, at each of which seven and eight were 
pulling seaward, could not hold the vessels ; the rest of the men, 
leaping into the water, with the utmost diligence, after the 
wave had passed that drove them to the shore, would launch 
the brigantine; while those on board, before another wave 
could come, baled out with bowls the water that came in upon 
them. 

While thus engaged, in great fear of being lost, from mid- 
night forward they suffered the intolerable torment of a myriad 
of mosquitos. The flesh is directly inflamed from their sting, 
as though it had received venom. Towards morning the wind 
lulled, and the sea went down ; but the insects continued none 
the less. The sails, which were white, appeared black with 
them at daylight; while the men could not pull at the oars 
without assistance to drive away the insects. Fear having 
passed off with the danger of the storm, the people observing 
the swollen condition of each other's faces, and the marks of the 
blows they had given and received to rid them of the mosqui- 
tos, they could but laugh. The vessels came together in a 
creek, where lay the two brigantines that preceded them. 
Finding a scum the sea casts up, called copee, which is like 
pitch, and used instead on shipping, where that is not to be 
had, they payed the bottoms of their vessels with it. 

After remaining two days they resumed their voyage; 
and having run likewise two days, they entered an arm of the 
sea and landed. Spending there a couple of days, they left; 
six men on the last day having gone up the bay in a canoe with- 



264 SPANISH EXPLOEEES [1543 

out finding its head. The brigantines went out in a head-wind 
blowing from the south, which being light, and the people 
having a strong desire to hasten the voyage, they pulled out 
by strength of arm to sea with great toil, and making little 
headway for two days, they entered by an arm of the sea behind 
an islet which it encircles, where followed such bad weather, , 
that they were not unmindful to give thanks for that good 
shelter. Fish abounded there. They were taken in nets and 
with the line. A man having thrown out a cord made fast 
to his arm, a fish caught at the hook and drew him into the 
water up to the neck, when, remembering a knife that he had 
providentially kept, he cut himself loose. 

At the close of the fourteenth day of their stay, the Al- 
mighty having thought proper to send fair weather, the Chris- 
tians very devoutly formed a procession for the return of 
thanks, in which, moving along the beach, they supplicated 
Him that He would take them to a land in which they might 
better do Him service. 

Chapter 41 

How the Christians arrived at the river Panico. 

Wheresoever the people dug along the shore they found 
fresh water. The jars being filled, and the procession con- 
cluded, they embarked ; and, going ever in sight of land, they 
navigated for six days. Juan de Anasco said it would be well 
to stand directly out to sea ; for that he had seen the card, and 
remembered that, from Rio de Palmas onward, the coast ran 
south, and up to that time they had gone westwardly. Ac- 
cording to his opinion, by the reckoning he kept, the river 
could not be distant from where they were. 

That night they ran out, and in the morning they saw palm- 
trees rising above the water, the coast trending southwardly; 
and from midday forward great mountains appeared, which 
had nowhere been seen until then; for to that place, from 
the port of Espiritu Santo, where they had entered Florida, 
was a low, level shore, not discoverable at sea until very 



1543] EXPEDITION OE HERNANDO DE SOTO 265 

near. From what they observed, they thought that during 
the night they had passed the Rio de Palmas, sixty leagues 
distant from Panico, in New Spain. So they consulted 
together. 

Some were of opinion that it would not be well to sail in 
the dark, lest they should overrun the Rio de Panico ; others, 
that they could not be so near as to run by it that night, and 
that it would not be well to lose a favorable wind; so they 
agreed to spread half the sails and keep on their way. Two 
of the brigantines, which ran with all sail up, at daylight passed 
the river without seeing it : of the five that remained behind, 
the first that arrived was the one Calderon commanded, from 
which, when a quarter of a league off, and before the entrance 
had been discovered, the water was observed to be thick and 
found to be fresh. Coming opposite the river, they saw where 
the waves broke upon a shoal, at the entrance into the sea; 
and, not any one knowing the place, they were in doubt whether 
they should go in there or pass by ; but finally, having agreed 
to enter, they approached the shore without getting into the 
current, and went in the port, where no sooner had they come, 
than they saw Indians of both sexes in the apparel of Spain. 
Asking in what country they were, they received the answer 
in their own language, that it was the Rio de Panico, 1 and 
that the town of the Christians was fifteen leagues inland. 
The pleasure that all received at this news cannot be sufficiently 
expressed : they felt as though a life had been newly given them. 
Many, leaping on shore, kissed the ground ; and all, on bended 
knees, with hands raised above them, and their eyes to heaven, 
remained untiring in giving thanks to God. 

Those who were coming astern, when they saw that Calderon 
with his brigantine had anchored in the river, directly steered 
to enter the port. The other two, which had gone by, tried 
to run to sea, that they might put about and join the rest, 
but could not, the wind being adverse and the sea fretful ; so, 
fearing that they might be lost, they came nigh the land and 

1 Or Panuco. A Mexican river which flows into the Gulf about a hun- 
dred and fifty miles north of Vera Cruz. 



266 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1543 

cast anchor. A storm came up, and finding that they could 
not sustain themselves there, much less at sea, they determined 
to run on shore; and as the brigantines were small, drawing 
but little water, and the beach sandy, the force of the wind on 
the sails carried them up dry, without injury to any one. 

If those who gained the haven at that time were made 
happy, these were oppressed by a double weight of gloom, not 
knowing what had happened to their companions, nor in what 
country they were, fearing likewise that it might be one of a 
hostile people. They had come upon the coast two leagues 
below the port. So soon as they found themselves clear of the 
sea, each took on the back what he could carry of his things, 
and, travelling inland, they found Indians, who told whence 
they were, and changed what was sorrow into joy. The Chris- 
tians rendered many thanks to God for having rescued them 
from those numberless perils. 

Chapter 42 

How the Christians came to Panico, and of their reception by the 

inhabitants. 

From the time the Christians left the River Grande, to 
come by sea from Florida to the River of Panico, were fifty-two 
days. On the tenth day of September, of the year 1543, they 
entered the Panico, going up with the brigantines. In the 
many windings taken by the stream, the light wind was often 
unfavorable, and the vessels in many places made slow head- 
way, having to be towed with much labor against a strong 
current; so that, after having sailed four days, the people, 
discovering themselves greatly retarded in the desire to get 
among Christians, and of taking part in the divine offices, 
which for a long season had not been listened to by them, they 
gave up the brigantines to the sailors, and went on by land 
to Panico. 

Just as the Christians arrived at the town, in their clothing 
of deer-skin, dressed and dyed black, consisting of frock, hose, 
and shoes, they all went directly to the church, to pray and 



1543] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 267 

return thanks for their miraculous preservation. The towns- 
people, having already been informed of their coming by the 
Indians, and now knowing of the arrival, invited some to their 
houses, and entertained them for acquaintance sake, or for 
having heard of them, or because they came from the same 
parts of country with themselves. The alcalde-mayor took the 
Governor home with him : the rest, as they came up, he directed 
to be lodged by sixes and tens, according to the means of in- 
dividuals, who provided their guests with abundance of fowls 
and maizen-bread, and with the fruits of the country, which are 
like those of Cuba, already described. 

The town of Panico might contain some seventy house- 
keepers. The dwellings were chiefly of stone and mortar; 
some were of poles, and all of them thatched with grass. The 
country is poor. No gold or silver is to be found. Residents 
have the fullest supply both of food and servants. The most 
wealthy have not an income above five hundred cruzados an- 
nually, which is tribute paid by their Indian vassals, in cotton 
clothing, fowls, and maize. 

Of the persons who got back from Florida, there landed at 
that port three hundred and eleven Christians. The alcalde- 
mayor directly sent a townsman by post to inform the Viceroy, 
who resided in Mexico, of the arrival of three hundred of the 
men who had gone with Don Hernando de Soto in the discov- 
ery and conquest of Florida ; and, for their being in the service 
of the King, that he would make provision for their support. 
Don Antonio de Mendoza * was greatly amazed at this news, as 
were all others of that city ; for the people having entered far 
into Florida, they had been considered lost, nothing being 
heard from them in a long while; and it appeared to 
him to be a thing impossible, that without a fortress to 
which they might betake themselves, or support of any 
sort, they should have sustained themselves for such a 
length of time among the heathen. He immediately gave an 
order, directing that subsistence should be given them where- 

1 The viceroy. 



268 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1543 

soever it might be needed, and the Indians found requisite 
for carrying their burdens; and, should there be refusal, to 
take by force, without incurring any penalty, whatsoever should 
be necessary. The mandate was so well obeyed, that on the 
road, before the people had arrived at the towns, the inhabitants 
went out to receive them, bringing fowls and provisions. 

Chapter 43 
The favor the people found in the Viceroy and residents of Mexico. 

From Panico to the great city of Mestitam (Mexico) r 
there are sixty leagues, and as many leagues from each to 
the port of Vera Cruz, which is where the embarkations take 
place for Spain, and where those who go hence to New Spain 
arrive. These three towns, equidistant, are inhabited by 
Spaniards, and form a triangle: Vera Cruz on the south, 
Panico on the east, and Mexico, which is inland, on the 
west. The country is so populous, that the Indian towns 
farthest apart are not more than half a league to a league 
from each other. 

Some of the people who came from Florida remained in 
Panico, reposing a month, others fifteen days, or such time as 
each pleased ; for no one turned a grudging face to his guest, 
but, on the contrary, gave him of every thing he had, and 
appeared sad at his leave-taking ; which may well enough be 
believed, for the provision the natives brought in payment of 
their tribute more than sufficed for consumption, so that there 
was no one in that town to buy or to sell, and few Spaniards 
being there, the inhabitants were glad of company. All the 
clothing in the custody of the alcalde-mayor, paid to him there 
as the Emperor's tax, he divided among those that would go to 
receive any. 

He who had a coat of mail was happy, since for it a horse 
might be had in exchange. Some got mounted, and those not 
able to get beasts, who were the greater number, took up the 
journey on foot. They were well received by the Indians, and 
better served than they could have been at their own homes, 



1543] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DO SOTO 269 

particularly in respect of everything to eat ; for, if an Indian 
was asked for a fowl, he would bring four ; and if for any sort 
of fruit, though it might be a league off, some one would run to 
fetch it ; and were a Christian ill, the people would carry him, 
in a chair, from their own to the next town. Wheresoever 
they came, the cacique of the place, through an Indian who 
bears a rod of justice in his hand they call tapile (which is 
equivalent to saying meirinho), ordered provisions to be 
brought, and men for the loads of such things as there were, 
and the others necessary to carry the invalids. 

The Viceroy sent a Portuguese to them, twenty leagues 
from Mexico, with quantity of confections, raisins, pome- 
granates, and other matters proper for the sick, should they 
need them ; and, in advance, ordered that all should be clothed 
at the royal charge. The news of their approach being known 
to the citizens, they went out on the highway to receive them, 
and with great courtesy entreated for their companionship as 
favor, each one taking to his house as many as he dared, giving 
them for raiment all the best he could, the least well dressed 
wearing clothes worth thirty cruzados and upward. Cloth- 
ing was given to those who chose to go for it to the residence 
of the Viceroy, and the persons of condition ate at his board : 
at his house was a table for all those of less rank that would eat 
there. Directly he informed himself of the quality of each one, 
that he might show him the consideration that was his due. 
Some of the conquistadores placed them all down to table to- 
gether, fidalgos and boors, oftentimes seating the servant and 
his master shoulder to shoulder; which was done mostly by 
artisans and men of mean condition, those better bred asking 
who each one was, and making a difference in persons. 

Nevertheless, all did the best they could with good will, 
telling those they had under their roofs that they could bring 
no impoverishment, nor should they hesitate to receive what- 
soever they offered; since they had found themselves in like 
condition when others had assisted them, such being the for- 
tunes of the country. God reward them: and those whom 
He saw fit should escape, coming out of Florida to tread the 



270 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1545 

soil of Christians, be He pleased that they live to serve Him ; 
and to the dead, and to all those who believe in Him, and confess 
that in Him is their faith, grant, through His compassion, the 
glory of paradise. Amen. 

Chapter 44 

Which sets forth some of the diversities and peculiarities of 
Florida; and the fruit, birds, and beasts of the country. 

From the port of Espiritu Santo, where the Christians went 
on shore, to the province of Ocute, which may be a distance 
of four hundred leagues, a little more or less, the country 
is very level, having many ponds, dense thickets, and, in 
places, tall pine-trees : the soil is light, and there is not in it a 
mountain nor a hill. 

The land of Ocute is more strong and fertile than the rest, 
the forest more open; and it has very good fields along the 
margins of the rivers. From there to Cutifachiqui are about 
one hundred and thirty leagues, of which eighty leagues are 
of desert and pine forests, through which run great rivers. 
From Cutifachiqui to Xuala there may be two hundred and 
fifty leagues, and all a country of mountains : the places them- 
selves are on high level ground, and have good fields upon the 
streams. 

Thence onward, through Chiaha, Coca, and Talise, the 
country of which is flat, dry, and strong, yielding abundance of 
maize, to Tascaluga, may be two hundred and fifty leagues; 
and thence to Rio Grande, a distance of about three hundred 
leagues, the land is low, abounding in lakes. The country 
afterward is higher, more open, and more populous than any 
other in Florida; and along the River Grande, from Aquixo 
to Pacaha and Coligoa, a distance of one hundred and fifty 
leagues, the land is level, the forest open, and in places the fields 
very fertile and inviting. 

From Coligoa to Autiamque may be two hundred and fifty 
leagues of mountainous country; thence to Guacay may be 
two hundred and thirty leagues of level ground; and the region 



1543] EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 271 

to Daycao, a distance of one hundred and twenty leagues, is 
continuously of mountainous lands. 

From the port of Espiritu Santo to Apalache they marched 
west and northeast; from Cutifachiqui to Xuala, north; to 
Coga, westwardly; and thence to Tascaluga and the River 
Grande, as far as the provinces of Quizquiz and Aquixo, to 
the westward; from thence to Pacaha northwardly, to Tula 
westwardly, to Autiamque southwardly, as far as the province 
of Guachoya and Daycao. 

The bread that is eaten all through Florida is made of maize, 
which is like coarse millet ; and in all the islands and Indias 
belonging to Castile, beginning with] the Antillas, grows this 
grain. There are in the country many walnuts likewise, and 
plums (persimmons), mulberries, and grapes. The maize is 
planted and picked in, each person having his own field ; fruit 
is common for all, because it grows abundantly in the woods, 
without any necessity of setting out trees or pruning them. 
Where there are mountains the chestnut is found, the fruit 
of which is somewhat smaller than the one of Spain. West- 
ward of the Rio Grande the walnut differs from that which is 
found before coming there, being of tenderer shell, and in form 
like an acorn; while that behind, from the river back to the 
port of Espiritu Santo, is generally rather hard, the tree and the 
nut being in their appearance like those of Spain. There is 
everywhere in the country a fruit, the produce of a plant like 
ligoacam, that is propagated by the Indians, having the appear- 
ance of the royal pear, with an agreeable smell and taste ; and 
likewise another plant, to be seen in the fields, bearing a fruit 
like strawberry, near to the ground, and is very agreeable. The 
plums (persimmons) are of two sorts, vermilion and gray, of 
the form and size of walnuts, having three or four stones in 
them. They are better than any plums that are raised in 
Spain, and make much better prunes. The grapes appear only 
to need dressing ; for, although large, they have great stones ; 
the other fruits are all in great perfection, and are less un- 
healthy than those of Spain. 

There are many lions and bears in Florida, wolves, deer. 



272 SPANISH EXPLOEEES [1543 

jackals, cats, and rabbits; numerous wild fowl, as large as 
pea-fowl; small partridges, like those of Africa, and cranes, 
ducks, pigeons, thrushes, and sparrows. There are blackbirds 
larger than sparrows and smaller than stares; hawks, gos- 
hawks, falcons, and all the birds of rapine to be found in Spain. 

The Indians are well proportioned: those of the level 
country are taller and better shaped of form than those of the 
mountains; those of the interior enjoy a greater abundance of 
maize and clothing than those of the coast, where the land is 
poor and thin, and the people along it more warlike. 

The direction from the port of Espiritu Santo to Apalache, 
and thence to Rio de las Palmas, is from east to west ; from 
that river towards New Spain, it is southwardly ; the sea-coast 
being gentle, having many shoals and high sand-hills. 

Deo Gratias. 



This Relation of the Discovery of Florida was printed in the 
house of Andree de Burgos, Printer and Cavalleiro of the house of 
the Senhor Cardinal Iffante. 1 

It was finished the tenth day of February, of the year one 
thousand five hundred and fifty-seven, in the noble and ever loyal 
city of Evora. 

1 Henry, cardinal archbishop of Evora, uncle of King John III., great 
uncle of King Sebastian, and himself King of Portugal from 1578 to 1580. 



THE NARRATIVE OF THE EXPEDITION 
OF CORONADO, BY PEDRO DE CAS- 
TANEDA 



INTRODUCTION 



From the time of the appearance in Mexico, in 1536, of 
Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca of the ill-fated Narvaez expedition 
of nine years before, with definite news of the hitherto unknown 
north, there had been a strong desire to explore that region, 
but nothing of importance was accomplished until 1539. 
In that year Fray Marcos of Nice, the Father Provincial of the 
Franciscan order in New Spain, with Estevan, the negro com- 
panion of Cabeza de Vaca, as a guide, penetrated the country to 
the northwest as far as the Seven Cities of Cibola, the villages 
of the ancestors of the present Zuni Indians in western New 
Mexico. Estevan, preceding Fray Marcos by a few days and 
accompanied by natives whom he gathered en route, reached 
Hawikuh, the southernmost of the seven towns, where he and 
all but three of his Indian followers were killed. The sur- 
vivors of this massacre fled back to Fray Marcos, whose life 
was now threatened by those who had lost their kindred at the 
hands of the Zunis ; but the friar, fearful that the world would 
lose the knowledge of his discoveries, appeased the wrath of his 
Indians by dividing among them the goods he had brought 
and induced them to continue until he reached a mesa from 
which was gained a view of the village in which Estevan had 
met his fate. Here Fray Marcos erected a cross, took posses- 
sion of the region in the name of Spain, and hastened back to 
Mexico "with more fear than victuals." 

The glowing accounts which the friar gave of what he had 
seen, and particularly of what he believed the Indians intended 
to communicate to him, resulted in another expedition in the 
following year (1540). This was planned by the Viceroy Don 
Antonio de Mendoza, and the command was given to Francisco 
Vazquez de Coronado. 

275 



276 SPANISH EXPLORERS 

The elaborate expedition of Coronado is the subject of the 
narrative of a private soldier in his army, Pedro de Castafieda, 
a native of Najera, in the province of Logrono, in the upper 
valley of the Ebro, in Old Castile. Of the narrator little is 
known beyond the fact that he was one of the colonists who 
settled at San Miguel Culiacan, founded by Nuno de Guzman 
in 1531, where he doubtless lived when Coronado's force reached 
that point in its northward journey, and where, more than 
twenty years later, he wrote his account of the expedition and 
its achievements. The dates of Castaiieda's birth and death 
are not known, but he was born probably between 1510 and 
1518. In 1554, according to a document published in the 
Coleccion de Docwnentos Ineditos del Archivo de Indias (XIV. 
206), his wife, Maria de Acosta, with her four sons and four 
daughters, filed a claim against the treasury of New Spain 
for payment for the service the husband and father had ren- 
dered in behalf of the King. 

As a rhetorician and geographer Castafieda was not a para- 
gon, as he himself confesses ; but although his narration leaves 
the impression that its author was somewhat at odds with the 
world, it bears every evidence of honesty and a sincere desire 
to tell all he knew of the most remarkable expedition that ever 
traversed American soil — even of exploits in which the writer 
did not directly participate. Castaiieda's narration is by far 
the most important of the several documents bearing .on the 
expedition, and in some respects is one of the most noteworthy 
contributions to early American history. 

The accompanying translation, by Mr. George Parker Win- 
ship of the John Carter Brown Library, was first published, 
together with other documents pertaining to the expedition, in 
the Fourteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology 
(Washington, 1896), now out of print. Barring a few cor- 
rections, most of which were communicated to the present 
writer by Mr. Winship in 1899, the translation is here printed 
as it first appeared. 

Mr. Winship's translation of Castafieda, together with the 
letters and the other narratives pertaining to the expedition, 



INTRODUCTION 277 

was reprinted, with an introduction, under the title The Journey 
of Coronado, 1540-1542, from the City of Mexico to the Grand 
Canon of the Colorado and the Buffalo Plains of Texas, Kansas, 
and Nebraska, as a volume of the " Trail Makers" series (New* 
York, 1904). 

The original manuscript of Castaneda is not known to 
exist, the Winship translation being that of a manuscript copy 
made at Seville in 1596. This copy, which is now in the Lenox 
branch of the New York Public Library, was first translated 
into French by Henri Ternaux-Compans, who found it in the 
Uguina collection in Paris and published it in Volume IX. of > 
his Voyages (Paris, 1838). 

In addition to Castaneda 's narration there are several letters 
and reports that shed important light on the route traversed 
by the expedition, the aborigines encountered, and other note- 
worthy details which the student should consult. These are 
as follows: 

1. The Relation by Fray Marcos of his entrada during the 
preceding year (1539), Coronado following the same route as 
far as the first of the Seven Cities of Cibola with Marcos as 
both guide and spiritual adviser. A brief bibliography of this 
narration is given in a note on p. 290. 

2. A letter from the viceroy, Don Antonio de Mendoza, to 
the King, dated Jacona (Mexico), April 17, 1540, in which is 
set forth the progress of Coronado 's expedition from Culiacan, 
and containing extracts from a report by Melchior Diaz, who 
had been sent forward in November, 1539, to explore the route 
from Culiacan to Chichilticalli, in the valley of the present 
Gila River, Arizona, for the purpose of verifying the reports 
of Fray Marcos. This letter appears in the Documentos Ineditos 
de Indias, II. 356, and in English in Winship's memoir in the 
Fourteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, p. 547, 
as well as in his Journey of Coronado, p. 149. 

3. An important and extended letter from Coronado to 
Mendoza, written at Granada (as Coronado called Hawikuh, 
the first of the Seven Cities of Cibola), August 3, 1540. This 
letter appears in Italian in Ramusio's Terzo Volume delle 



278 SPANISH EXPLORERS 

Navigationi et Viaggi (ed. 1556), fol. 359, translated by Hak- 
luyt, Voyages, IX. 145-169 (ed. 1904); reprinted in Old 
South Leaflets, Gen. Ser., No. 20. A translation from 
Ramusio into English appears in both of Mr. Winship's works 
on the expedition. It should perhaps here be mentioned that 
the Hakluyt translations of the Coronado documents, at least, 
are so unreliable as to warrant careful use. 

4. The Traslado de las Nuevas, an anonymous "Copy of the 
Reports and Descriptions that have been received regarding 
the Discovery of a City which is called Cibola, situated in the 
New Country." This important document was written evi- 
dently by a member of the expedition while the Spaniards 
were at Cibola. It appears in Spanish in the Documentos 
Ineditos de Indias, XIX. 529, from which it was translated 
into English by Mr. Winship and printed in each of his memoirs. 

5. The important letter of Coronado to the King, dated 
Tiguex (the present Bernalillo, New Mexico), October 20, 1541, 
after the return of the expedition from Quivira. Printed in 
the Documentos Ineditos de Indias, III. 363; XIII. 261; in 
French in Ternaux-Compans' Voyages, IX. 355; translated 
into English by Mr. Winship and printed in each of his memoirs, 
as well as in American History Leaflets, No. 13. 

6. The Relacion Postrera de Sibola, y de mas de Cuatro- 
cientas Leguas Adelante (the " Latest Account of Cibola, and 
of more than Four Hundred Leagues Beyond"). This im- 
portant anonymous account, written apparently in New Mexico 
in 1541 by one of the Franciscans who accompanied the expedi- 
tion, was published, both in Spanish and in English, for the 
first time, in Mr. Winship's Coronado Expedition (Fourteenth 
Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, pp. 566-571). In 
his Journey of Coronado only the translation appears (pp. 190- 
196). 

7. The anonymous Relacion del Suceso, an " Account of 
what happened on the Journey which Francisco Vazquez made 
to discover Cibola." First printed, in Spanish, in Buckingham 
Smith's Coleccion de Varios Documentos para la Historia de la 
Florida (1857), I. 147; it appears also, under the erroneous 



> 



INTRODUCTION 279 

date 1531, in the Docwnentos Ineditos de Indias, XIV. 318, 
whereas the account was written apparently in 1541 or early 
in 1542. An English translation appears in each of Mr. 
Winship's works, and also in American History Leaflets, 
No. 13. 

8. " Account given by Captain Juan Jaramillo of the 
Journey which he made to the New Country, on which Francisco 
Vazquez Coronado was the General." Next to Castafieda's 
narration this is the most important document pertaining to 
the expedition, inasmuch as it contains many references to 
directions, distances, streams, etc., that are not noted in the 
other accounts. The Jaramillo narration was written long 
after the events transpired, and is based on the keen memory 
of the writer. It is printed in Spanish in Buckingham Smith's 
Coleccion, I. 154, and in the Documentos Ineditos, XIV. 304. 
A French translation is given by Ternaux-Compans, IX. 364, 
and an English translation in both of Mr. Winship's works. 

9. " Account of what Hernando de Alvarado and Friar 
Juan de Padilla discovered going in Search of the South Sea." 
A brief account of the journey of Alvarado from Hawikuh 
(Coronado 's Granada) to the Rio Grande pueblos in 1540. 
Printed in Spanish in Buckingham Smith's Coleccion, I. 65, 
and in the Documentos Ineditos, III. 511. An English transla- 
tion by Mr. Winship is included in each of his works on the 
expedition, and was printed also in the Boston Transcript, 
October 14, 1893. The title of this document is a misnomer, 
as Alvarado did not go in search of the Pacific. 

10. ' ' Testimony concerning those who went on the Expedi- 
tion with Francisco Vazquez Coronado." This testimony is 
printed in the Documentos Ineditos de Indias, XIV. 373, and 
an abridgment, freely translated, is included in Mr. Winship's 
works. 

11. Although the account of the voyage of the fleet under 
Hernando de Alarcon does not directly concern us, reference 
should perhaps be made to the sources of information regard- 
ing it. These are : Herrera's Historia General, dec. VI., lib. ix., 
cap. xiii. (1601-1615), and in various subsequent editions; 



/ 



280 SPANISH EXPLORERS 

Ramusio's Navigationi et Viaggi (1556), III., fol. 363-370; 
Hakluyt's Voyages, IX. 279-318 (1904); Ternaux-Compans' 
Voyages, IX. 299-348; Coleccion de Documentos Ineditos para 
la Historia de Espana, IV. 218-219. 

The Coronado expedition was of far-reaching importance 
from a geographical point of view, for it combined with the 
journey of De Soto in giving to the world an insight into the 
hitherto unknown vast interior of the northern continent and 
formed the basis of the cartography of that region. It was 
the means also of making known the sedentary Pueblo tribes 
of our Southwest and the hunting tribes of the Great Plains, 
the Grand Canon of the Colorado and the lower reaches of that 
stream, and the teeming herds of bison and the absolute de- 
pendence on them by the hunting Indians for every want. But 
alas for the Spaniards, the grand pageant resulted in disap- 
pointment for all, and its indefatigable leader ended his days 
practically forgotten by his country for which he had accom- 
plished so much. 

F. W. Hodge. 




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THE NARRATIVE OF THE EXPEDITION 
OF CORONADO BY CASTANEDA 

Account of the Expedition to Cibola which took place in the year 
1540, in which all those settlements, their ceremonies 
and customs, are described. Written by Pedro de 
Castafieda, of Najera. 1 

PREFACE 

To me it seems very certain, my very noble lord, that it is 
a worthy ambition for great men to desire to know and wish 
to preserve for posterity correct information concerning the 
things that have happened in distant parts, about which little 
is known. I do not blame those inquisitive persons who, per- 
chance with good intentions, have many times troubled me 
not a little with their requests that I clear up for them some 
doubts which they have had about different things that have 
been commonly related concerning the events and occurrences 
that took place during the expedition to Cibola, or the New 
Land, which the good viceroy — may he be with God in His 
glory — Don Antonio de Mendoza, 2 ordered and arranged, and 
on which he sent Francisco Vazquez de Coronado as captain- 
general. In truth, they have reason for wishing to know the 
truth, because most people very often make things of which 
they have heard, and about which they have perchance no 
knowledge, appear either greater or less than they are. They 
make nothing of those things that amount to something, and 

1 For information concerning the author of this narrative, see the Intro- 
duction. 

2 Mendoza was first viceroy of New Spain (Mexico), serving from 1535 
to 1550, when he was ordered to Peru as its second viceroy. He reached 
Lima in September, 1551, and died July 21 of the year following. 

281 



282 SPANISH EXPLORERS 

those that do not they make so remarkable that they appear 
to be something impossible to believe. This may very well 
have been caused by the fact that, as that country was not 
permanently occupied, there has not been any one who was 
willing to spend his time in writing about its peculiarities, 
because all knowledge was lost of that which it was not the 
pleasure of God — He alone knows the reason — that they 
should enjoy. In truth, he who wishes to employ himself 
thus in writing out the things that happened on the expedi- 
tion, and the things that were seen in those lands, and the cere- 
monies and customs of the natives, will have matter enough to 
test his judgment, and I believe that the result can not fail 
to be an account which, describing only the truth, will be so 
remarkable that it will seem incredible. 

And besides, I think that the twenty years and mote since 
that expedition took place 1 have been the cause of some stories 
which are related. For example, some make it an uninhabit- 
able country, others have it bordering on Florida, and still 
others on Greater India, which does not appear to be a slight 
difference. They are unable to give any basis upon which to 
found their statements. There are those who tell about some 
very peculiar animals, who are contradicted by others who 
were on the expedition, declaring that there was nothing of the 
sort seen. Others differ as to the limits of the provinces and 
even in regard to the ceremonies and customs, attributing 
what pertains to one people to others. All this has had a 
large part, my very noble lord, in making me wish to give now, 
although somewhat late, a short general account for all those 
who pride themselves on this noble curiosity, and to save my- 
self the time taken up by these solicitations. Things enough 
will certainly be found here which are hard to believe. All 
or the most of these were seen with my own eyes, and the 
rest is from reliable information obtained by inquiry of the 
natives themselves. Understanding as I do that this little 
work would be nothing in itself, lacking authority, unless it 

1 Castaneda is supposed to have been writing at Culiacan, in western 
Mexico, about 1565. 



EXPEDITION OF CORONADO 283 

were favored and protected by a person whose authority- 
would protect it from the boldness of those who, without rev- 
erence, give their murmuring tongues liberty, and knowing as 
I do how great are the obligations under which I have always 
been, and am, to your grace, I humbly beg to submit this little 
work to your protection. May it be received as from a faithful 
retainer and servant. It will be divided into three parts, that 
it may be better understood. The first will tell of the discovery 
and the armament or army that was made ready, and of the 
whole journey, with the captains who were there; the second, 
of the villages and provinces which were found, and their limits, 
and ceremonies and customs, the animals, fruits, and vegeta- 
tion, and in what parts of the country these are ; the third, of 
the return of the army and the reasons for abandoning the 
country, although these were insufficient, because this is the 
best place there is for discoveries — the marrow of the land in 
these western parts, as will be seen. And after this has been 
made plain, some remarkable things which were seen will be 
described at the end, and the way by which one might more 
easily return to discover that better land which we did not 
see, since it would be no small advantage to enter the country 
through the land which the Marquis of the Valley, Don Fer- 
nando Cortes, went in search of under the Western star, and 
which cost him no small sea armament. May it please our 
Lord to so favor me that with my slight knowledge and small 
abilities I may be able by relating the truth to make my little 
work pleasing to the learned and wise readers, when it has been 
accepted by your grace. For my intention is not to gain the 
fame of a good composer or rhetorician, but I desire to give a 
faithful account and to do this slight service to your grace, who 
will, I hope, receive it as from a faithful servant and soldier, 
who took part in it. Although not in a polished style, I write 
that which happened — that which I heard, experienced, saw, 
and did. 

I always notice, and it is a fact, that for the most part when 
we have something valuable in our hands, and deal with it 
without hindrance, we do not vaiue or prize it so highly as if 



284 SPANISH EXPLORERS 

we understood how much we should miss it after we had lost it, 
and the longer we continue to have it the less we value it ; but 
after we have lost it and miss the advantages of it, we have a 
great pain in the heart, and we are all the time imagining and 
trying to find ways and means by which to get it back again. 
It seems to me that this has happened to all or most of those 
who went on the expedition which, in the year of our Savior 
Jesus Christ 1540, Francisco Vazquez Coronado led in search 
of the Seven Cities. 1 Granted that they did not find the riches 
of which they had been told, they found a place in which to 
search for them and the beginning of a good country to settle in, 
so as to go on farther from there. Since they came back from 
the country which they conquered and abandoned, time 
has given them a chance to understand the direction and lo- 
cality in which they were, and the borders of the good country 
they had in their hands, and their hearts weep for having lost 
so favorable an opportunity. Just as men see more at the 
bullfight when they are upon the seats than when they are 
around in the ring, now when they know and understand 
the direction and situation in which they were, and see, indeed, 
that they can not enjoy it nor recover it, now when it is too late 
they enjoy telling about what they saw, and even of what they 
realize that they lost, especially those who are now as poor as 
when they went there. They have never ceased their labors 
and have spent their time to no advantage. I say this be- 
cause I have known several of those who came back from there 
who amuse themselves now by talking of how it would be to 
go back and proceed to recover that which is lost, while others 
enjoy trying to find the reason why it was discovered at all. 
And now I will proceed to relate all that happened from the 
beginning. 

1 The Seven Cities of Cibola. See p. 287, note 1 ; p. 300, note 1. 



1530] EXPEDITION OF CORONADO 285 

FIRST PART 

Chapter 1 

Which treats of the way we first came to know about the Seven 
Cities, and of how Nufio de Guzman made an expe- 
dition to discover them. 

In the year 1530 Nufio de Guzman, who was President of 
New Spain, 1 had in his possession an Indian, a native of the 
valley or valleys of Oxitipar, who was called Tejo by the Span- 
iards. This Indian said he was the son of a trader who was 

1 Nufio Beltran de Guzman was appointed governor of Panuco, Mexico, 
in 1526, assuming the office in May, 1527. In December he became president 
of the Audiencia, the administrative and judicial board which governed the 
province, and in the following year participated in the trial of Cortes, his 
personal and political enemy, for strangling his wife to death in 1522. Guz- 
man's barbarous cruelty, especially to the natives, whom he enslaved and 
bartered for his personal gain, resulted in a protest to the crown by Bishop 
Zumarraga, and in the hope of finding new fields for the gratification of his 
avarice he raised a large force, including 10,000 Aztecs and Tlascaltecs, 
and started from Mexico late in 1529 to explore the northwest (later 
known as Nueva Galicia), notwithstanding Cortes had already penetrated 
the region. 

He conquered the territory through which he passed, laying waste the 
settlements and fields and inflicting unspeakable punishment on the native 
inhabitants. Guzman built a chapel at Tonala, which formed the begin- 
ning of the settlement of the present city of Guadalajara, named from his 
native town in Spain ; he also founded the towns of Santiago de Compostela 
and San Miguel Culiacan, in Tepic and Sinaloa respectively, and started on 
his return journey late in 1531. Meanwhile a new Audiencia had arrived in 
New Spain, and Guzman was summoned to appear at the capital. This he 
refused to do, and when Luis de Castilla was sent by Cortes, the captain- 
general of the province, to subdue him, Guzman captured him and his force 
of 100 men by a ruse. In May, 1533, the king commanded him to submit 
to the provincial authorities ; many of his friends and adherents deserted him, 
and he was stripped of his title as governor of Panuco. In 1536 (March 17) 
the licentiate Diego Perez de la Torre was appointed juez de residencia, an 
officer whose duty was to conduct a rigid investigation of the accounts and 
administration of governmental officials — this time with special reference 
to Guzman. By Torre's order, Guzman was arrested and confined in jail 
until 1538, when his case was appealed to Spain ; but from this he received 
no comfort. He was banished to Torrejon de Velasco, where he died in 1544, 
penniless and despised. 



286 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1530 

dead, but that when he was a little boy his father had gone 
into the back country with fine feathers to trade for ornaments, 
and that when he came back he brought a large amount of 
gold and silver, of which there is a good deal in that country. 
He went with him once or twice, and saw some very large vil- 
lages, which he compared to Mexico and its environs. He had 
seen seven very large towns which had streets of silver workers. 
It took forty days to go there from his country, through a 
wilderness in which nothing grew, except some very small 
plants about a span high. The way they went was up through 
the country between the two seas, following the northern direc- 
tion. Acting on this information, Nuiio de Guzman got to- 
gether nearly 400 Spaniards and 20,000 friendly Indians of 
New Spain, and, as he happened to be in Mexico, he crossed 
Tarasca, which is in the province of Michoacan, so as to get into 
the region which the Indian said was to be crossed toward the 
North Sea, in this way getting to the country which they were 
looking for, which was already named "The Seven Cities." 
He thought, from the forty days of which the Tejo had spoken, 
that it would be found to be about 200 leagues, and that they 
would easily be able to cross the country. Omitting several 
things that occurred on this journey, as soon as they had reached 
the province of Culiacan, where his government ended, and 
where the New Kingdom of Galicia is now, they tried to cross 
the country, but found the difficulties very great, because the 
mountain chains which are near that sea are so rough that it 
was impossible, after great labor, to find a passageway in that 
region. His whole army had to stay in the district of Culiacan 
for so long on this account that some rich men who were with 
him, who had possessions in Mexico, changed their minds, 
and every day became more anxious to return. Besides 
this, Nuiio de Guzman received word that the Marquis of the 
Valley, Don Fernando Cortes, had come from Spain with his 
new title, 1 and with great favors and estates, and as Nuiio de 
Guzman had been a great rival of his at the time he was presi- 

1 Marques del Valle de Oaxaca y Capitan General de la Nueva Espana y 
de la Costa del Sur. He arrived at Vera Cruz in July, 1529. 



1536] EXPEDITION OE CORONADO 287 

dent, and had done much damage to his property and to that 
of his friends, he feared that Don Fernando Cortes would want 
to pay him back in the same way, or worse. So he decided to 
establish the town of Culiacan there and to go back with the 
other men, without doing anything more. After his return 
from this expedition, he founded Xalisco, where the city of 
Compostela is situated, and Tonala, which is called Guada- 
laxara, and now this is the New Kingdom of Galicia. The 
guide they had, who was called Tejo, died about this time, and 
thus the name of these Seven Cities and the search for them 
remains until now, since they have not been discovered. 1 

Chapter 2 

Of how Francisco Vazquez Coronaolo came to be governor, and 
the second account which Cabeza de Vaca gave. 

Eight years after Nuno de Guzman made this expedition, 
he was put in prison by a juez de residencia, named the licen- 
tiate Diego de la Torre, who came from Spain with sufficient 
powers to do this. After the death of the judge, who had also 
managed the government of that country himself, the good 
Don Antonio de Mendoza, viceroy of New Spain, appointed 
as governor of that province Francisco Vazquez de Coronado, 
a gentleman from Salamanca, who had married a lady in the 
city of Mexico, the daughter of Alonso de Estrada, the treas- 
urer and at one time governor of Mexico, and the son, most 
people said, of His Catholic Majesty Don Ferdinand, and many 
stated it as certain. As I was saying, at the time Francisco 
Vazquez was appointed governor, he was travelling through 
New Spain as an official inspector, and in this way he gained the 
friendship of many worthy men who afterward went on his 
expedition with him. It happened that just at this time three 

1 The best discussion of the stories of the Seven Caves and the Seven 
Cities is in A. F. Bandelier's Contributions to the History of the Southwestern 
Portion of the United States, in Papers of the Archaeological Institute of America, 
American Series, V. (Cambridge, 1890). 



288 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1536 

Spaniards, named Cabeza de Vaca, Dorantes, and Castillo 
Maldonado, and a negro [Estevan], who had been lost on the 
expedition which Pamfilo de Narvaez led into Florida, reached 
Mexico. They came out through Culiacan, having crossed the 
country from sea to sea, as anyone who wishes may find out 
for himself by an account which this same Cabeza de Vaca 
wrote and dedicated to Prince Don Philip, who is now King 
of Spain and our sovereign. 1 They gave the good Don An- 
tonio de Mendoza an account of some large and powerful vil- 
lages, four and five stories high, of which they had heard a 
great deal in the countries they had crossed, and other things 
very different from what turned out to be the truth. The 
noble viceroy communicated this to the new governor, who 
gave up the visits he had in hand, on account of this, and 
hurried his departure for his government, taking with him the 
negro [Estevan] who had come [with Cabeza de Vaca] with the 
three friars of the order of Saint Francis, one of whom was 
named Friar Marcos of Nice, a regular priest, and another Friar 
Daniel, a lay brother, and the other Friar Antonio de Santa 
Maria. When he reached the province of Culiacan he sent the 
friars just mentioned and the negro, who was named Estevan, 
off in search of that country, because Friar Marcos offered to 
go and see it, because he had been in Peru at the time Don 
Pedro de Alvarado went there overland. It seems that, after 
the friars I have mentioned and the negro had started, the 
negro did not get on well with the friars, because he took the 
women that were given him and collected turquoises, and got 
together a stock of everything. Besides, the Indians in those 
places through which they went got along with the negro bet- 
ter, because they had seen him before. This was the reason he 
was sent on ahead to open up the way and pacify the Indians, 
so that when the others came along they had nothing to do ex- 
cept to keep an account of the things for which they were 
looking. 

1 See the narrative of Alvar Nufiez Cabeza de Vaca in the present volume. 



1539] EXPEDITION OF CORONADO 289 

Chapter 3 

Of how they killed the negro Estevan at Cibola, and Friar Marcos 

returned in flight. 

After Estevan had left the friars, he thought he could get 
all the reputation and honor himself, and that if he should dis- 
cover those settlements with such famous high houses, alone, 
he would be considered bold and courageous. So he proceeded 
with the people who had followed him, and attempted to cross 
the wilderness which lies between the country he had passed 
through and Cibola. He was so far ahead of the friars that, 
when these reached Chichilticalli, which is on the edge of the 
wilderness, he was already at Cibola, which is eighty leagues 
beyond. It is 220 leagues from Culiacan to the edge of the 
wilderness, and eighty across the desert, which makes 300, or 
perhaps ten more or less. As I said, Estevan reached Cibola 
loaded with the large quantity of turquoises they had given him 
and some beautiful women whom the Indians who followed 
him and carried his things were taking with them and had 
given him. These had followed him from all the settlements he 
had passed, believing that under his protection they could 
traverse the whole world without any danger. But as the 
people in this country were more intelligent than those who fol- 
lowed Estevan, they lodged him in a little hut they had outside 
their village, and the older men and the governors heard his 
story and took steps to find out the reason he had come to that 
country. For three days they made inquiries about him 
and held a council. The account which the negro gave them of 
two white men who were following him, sent by a great lord, 
who knew about the things in the sky, and how these were com- 
ing to instruct them in divine matters, made them think that 
he must be a spy or a guide from some nations who wished 
to come and conquer them, because it seemed to them unrea- 
sonable to say that the people were white in the country from 
which he came and that he was sent by them, he being black. 
Besides these other reasons, they thought it was hard of him 



290 SPANISH EXPLOKEKS [163& 

to ask them for turquoises and women, and so they decided to 
kill him. They did this, but they did not kill any of those who 
went with him, although they kept some young fellows and let 
the others, about sixty persons, return freely to their own coun- 
try. As these, who were badly scared, were returning in 
flight, they happened to come upon the friars in the desert 
sixty leagues from Cibola, and told them the sad news, which 
frightened them so much that they would not even trust these 
folks who had been with the negro, but opened the packs 
they were carrying and gave away everything they had except 
the holy vestments for saying mass. They returned from here 
by double marches, prepared for anything, without seeing any 
more of the country except what the Indians told them. 1 



Chapter 4 

Of how the noble Don Antonio de Mendoza made an expedition 

to discover Cibola. 

After Francisco Vazquez Coronado had sent Friar Marcos 
of Nice and his party on the search already related, he was en- 
gaged in Culiacan about some business that related to his gov- 
ernment, when he heard an account of a province called Topira, 2 
which was to the north of the country of Culiacan. He started 
to explore this region with several of the conquerors and some 
friendly Indians, but he did not get very far, because the moun- 
tain chains which they had to cross were very difficult. He 
returned without finding the least signs of a good country, 

1 See the account of this journey by Marcos de Niza in Coleccion de Docu- 
mentos Ineditos de Indias, III. 325-351 ; Ramusio, Terzo Volume delle Navi- 
gationi (Venice, 1556) ; Hakluyt, Voyages, IX. 125-144 (1904) ; Ternaux- 
Compans, Voyages, IX. 249-284 (1838) ; and an English translation by 
Fanny Bandelier in The Journey of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca (1905). Cf. 
also A. F. Bandelier, "The Discovery of New Mexico by Fray Marcos of 
Nizza," in Magazine of Western History, IV. 659-670 (Cleveland, 1886). 

2 Bandelier, Papers of the Archaeological Institute of America, Am. ser., V. 
(1890), p. 104, says this was Topia, in Durango, a locality since noted for its 
rich mines. 



1539] EXPEDITION OF CORONADO 291 

and when he got back, he found the friars who had just arrived, 
and who told such great things about what the negro Estevan 
had discovered and what they had heard from the Indians, 
and other things they had heard about the South Sea 1 and 
islands and other riches, that, without stopping for anything, 
the governor set off at once for the City of Mexico, taking Friar 
Marcos with him, to tell the viceroy about it. He made the 
things seem more important by not talking about them to 
anyone except his particular friends, under promise of the 
greatest secrecy, until after he had reached Mexico and seen 
Don Antonio de Mendoza. Then it began to be noised 
abroad that the Seven Cities- for which Nuno de Guzman 
had searched had already been discovered, and a beginning was 
made in collecting an armed force and in bringing together 
people to go and conquer them. The noble viceroy arranged 
with the friars of the order of Saint Francis so that Friar Marcos 
was made father provincial, as a result of which the pulpits of 
that order were filled with such accounts of marvels and won- 
ders that more than 300 Spaniards and about 800 natives of 
New Spain collected in a few days. There were so many men 
of such high quality among the Spaniards, that such a noble 
body was never collected in the Indies, nor so many men of 
quality in such a small body, there being 300 men. Fran- 
cisco Vazquez Coronado, governor of New Galicia, was captain- 
general, because he had been the author of it all. The good 
viceroy Don Antonio did this because at this time Francisco 
Vazquez was his closest and most intimate friend, and because 
he considered him to be wise, skillful, and intelligent, besides 
being a gentleman. Had he paid more attention and regard 
to the position in which he was placed and the charge over which 
he was placed, and less to the estates he left behind in New 
Spain, or, at least, more to the honor he had and might secure 
from having such gentlemen under his command, things would 
not have turned out as they did. When this narrative is 
ended, it will be seen that he did not know how to keep his 
position nor the government that he held. 

1 The Pacific. 



292 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1540 

Chapter 5 

Concerning the captains who went to Cibola. 

When the viceroy, Don Antonio de Mendoza, saw what a 
noble company had come together, and the spirit and good 
will with which they had all presented themselves, knowing 
the worth of these men, he would have liked very well to make 
every one of them captain of an army ; but as the whole num- 
ber was small he could not do as he would have liked, and so he 
issued the commissions and captaincies as he saw fit, because it 
seemed to him that if they were appointed by him, as he was 
so well obeyed and beloved, nobody would find fault with his 
arrangements. After everybody had heard who the general 
was, he made Don Pedro de Tovar ensign-general, a young gen- 
tleman who was the son of Don Fernando de Tovar, the guar- 
dian and lord high steward of the Queen Dona Juana, 1 our 
demented mistress — may she be in glory — and Lope de 
Samaniego, the governor of the arsenal at Mexico, 2 a gentle- 
man fully equal to the charge, army-master. The captains 
were Don Tristan de Arellano; Don Pedro de Guevara, the 
son of Don Juan de Guevara and nephew of the Count of Ofiate ; 
Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas; Don Rodrigo Maldonado, 
brother-in-law of the Duke of the Infantado; Diego Lopez, 
alderman of Seville, and Diego Gutierres, for the cavalry. All 
the other gentlemen were placed under the flag of the general, 
as being distinguished persons, and some of them became 
captains later, and their appointments were confirmed by 
order of the viceroy and by the general, Francisco Vazquez. 
To name some of them whom I happen to remember, there were 
Francisco de Barrionuevo, a gentleman from Granada; Juan 
de Saldivar, Francisco de Ovando, Juan Gallego, and Melchior 
Diaz — a captain who had been mayor of Culiacan, who, al- 

1 Daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, wife of Philip I., and mother of 
Charles V. 

2 In a letter of the Viceroy Mendoza to the King, April 17, 1540, Saman- 
iego is mentioned as the warden of a fortress. 



1540] EXPEDITION OF COEONADO 293 

though he was not a gentleman, merited the position he held. 
The other gentlemen who were prominent, were Don Alonso 
Manrique de Lara; Don Lope de Urrea, a gentleman from 
Aragon ; Gomez Suarez de Figueroa, Luis Ramirez de Vargas, 
Juan de Sotomayor, Francisco Gorbalan, the commissioner 
Riberos, and other gentlemen, men of high quality, whom I 
do not now recall. The infantry captain was Pablo de Mel- 
gosa of Burgos, and of the artillery, Hernando de Alvarado of 
the mountain district. As I say, since then I have forgotten 
the names of many gentlemen. It would be well if I could 
name some of them, so that it might be clearly seen what cause 
I had for saying that they had on this expedition the most 
brilliant company ever collected in the Indies to go in search 
of new lands. But they were unfortunate in having a captain 
who left in New Spain estates and a pretty wife, a noble and 
excellent lady, which were not the least causes for what was 
to happen. 

Chapter 6 

Of how all the companies collected in Compostela and set off on 
the journey in good order. 

When the viceroy Don Antonio de Mendoza had fixed and 
arranged everything as we have related, and the companies 
and captaincies had been arranged, he advanced a part of their 
salaries from the chest of His Majesty to those in the army who 
were in greatest need. And as it seemed to him that it 
would be rather hard for the friendly Indians in the country 
if the army should start from Mexico, he ordered them 
to assemble at the city of Compostela, the chief city in the 
New Kingdom of Galicia, 110 leagues from Mexico, so that 
they could begin their journey there with everything in good 
order. There is nothing to tell about what happened on this 
trip, since they all finally assembled at Compostela by Shrove- 
tide, in the year (fifteen hundred and) forty-one. 1 After the 

1 The correct date is 1540. Castafieda carries the error throughout his 
narration, although he gives the year correctly in the preface. 



294 SPANISH EXPLOREBS [1540 

whole force had left Mexico, he ordered Don Pedro de Alar- 
con 1 to set sail with two ships that were in the port of La 
Natividad on the South Sea coast, and go to the port of Xal- 
isco 2 to take the baggage which the soldiers were unable to 
carry, and thence to sail along the coast near the army, be- 
cause he had understood from the reports that they would 
have to go through the country near the seacoast, and that 
we could find the harbors by means of the rivers, and that the 
ships could always get news of the army, which turned out 
afterward to be false, and so all this stuff was lost, or, rather, 
those who owned it lost it, as will be told farther on. 3 After 
the viceroy had completed all his arrangements, he set off 
for Compostela, accompanied by many noble and rich men. 
He kept the New Year of (fifteen hundred and) forty-one at 
Pasquaro, which is the chief place in the bishopric of Michoa- 
can, and from there he crossed the whole of New Spain, tak- 
ing much pleasure in enjoying the festivals and great recep- 
tions which were given him, till he reached Compostela, which 
is, as I have said, 110 leagues. There he found the whole com- 
pany assembled, being well treated and entertained by Christo- 
bal de Ofiate, who had the whole charge of that government 4 
for the time being. He had had the management of it and was 
in command of all that region when Francisco Vazquez was 
made governor. All were very glad when he arrived, and he 
made an examination of the company and found all those 
whom we have mentioned. He assigned the captains to their 
companies, and after this was done, on the next day, after 
they had all heard mass, captains and soldiers together, the 
viceroy made them a very eloquent short speech, telling them 
of the fidelity they owed to their general and showing them 

1 An error for Hernando de Alarcon. 

2 That is, from a point on the Pacific coast in latitude 19° to another in 
latitude 21° 30'. 

3 See Alarcon's narrative translated by Hakluyt in his Voyages, IX. 
279-318 (ed. 1904), and also Buckingham Smith, Coleccion de Varios Docu- 
mentos para la Historia de la Florida (1857), p. 1. 

4 The province of Nueva Galicia, explored under Guzman's direction. 
See p. 285, note 1. 



1540] EXPEDITION OF CORONADO 295 

clearly the benefits which this expedition might afford, from 
the conversion of those peoples as well as in the profit of those 
who should conquer the territory, and the advantage to His 
Majesty and the claim which they would thus have on his 
favor and aid at all times. After he had finished, they all, 
both captains and soldiers, gave him their oaths upon the Gos- 
pels in a missal that they would follow their general on this 
expedition and would obey him in everything he commanded 
them, which they faithfully performed, as will be seen. The 
next day after this was done, the army started off with its 
colors flying. The viceroy, Don Antonio, went with them for 
two days, and there he took leave of them, returning to New 
Spain with his friends. 

Chapter 7 

Of how the army reached Chiametla, and the killing of the army- 
master, and the other things that happened up to the 
arrival at Culiacan. 

After the viceroy Don Antonio left them, the army con- 
tinued its march. As each one was obliged to transport his 
own baggage and all did not know how to fasten the packs, and 
as the horses started off fat and plump, they had a good deal of 
difficulty and labor during the first few days, and many left 
many valuable things, giving them to anyone who wanted them, 
in order to get rid of carrying them. In the end necessity, 
which is all powerful, made them skillful, so that one could see 
many gentlemen become carriers, and anybody who despised 
this work was not considered a man. With such labors, which 
they then thought severe, the army reached Chiametla, where 
it was obliged to delay several days to procure food. During 
this time the army-master, Lope de Samaniego, went off with 
some soldiers to find food, and at one village, a crossbowman 
having entered it indiscreetly in pursuit of the enemies, they 
shot him through the eye and it passed through his brain, so 
that he died on the spot. They also shot five or six of his com- 
panions before Diego Lopez, the alderman from Seville, since 



296 SPANISH EXPLORERS [154a 

the commander was dead, collected the men and sent word to 
the general. He put a guard in the village and over the pro- 
visions. There was great confusion in the army when this 
news became known. He was buried here. Several sorties 
were made, by which food was obtained and several of the 
natives taken prisoners. They hanged those who seemed to 
belong to the district where the army-master was killed. 

It seems that when the general Francisco Vazquez left 
Culiacan with Friar Marcos to tell the viceroy Don Antonio 
de Mendoza the news, as already related, he left orders for 
Captain Melchior Diaz and Juan de Saldivar to start off with a 
dozen good men from Culiacan and verify what Friar Marcos 
had seen and heard. They started and went as far as Chichil- 
ticalli, 1 which is where the wilderness begins, 220 leagues from 
Culiacan, and there they turned back, not finding anything 
important. They reached Chiametla just as the army was 
ready to leave, and reported to the general. Although it was 
kept secret, the bad news leaked out, and there were some re- 
ports which, although they were exaggerated, did not fail to 
give an indication of what the facts were. Friar Marcos, no- 
ticing that some were feeling disturbed, cleared away these 
clouds, promising that what they would see should be good, 
and that he would place the army in a country where their 
hands would be filled, and in this way he quieted them so that 
they appeared well satisfied. From there the army marched 
to Culiacan, making some detours into the country to seize 
provisions. They were two leagues from the town of Culiacan 
at Easter vespers, when the inhabitants came out to welcome 
their governor and begged him not to enter the town till the 
day after Easter. 2 

1 For this locality see p. 299, note 1. 

2 Culiacan, or San Miguel Culiacan, as it was named by Guzman, is in 
central Sinaloa. Castafieda was a resident of this town and evidently 
joined the expedition there. 



1540] EXPEDITION OF COBONADO 297 



Chapter 8 

Of how the army entered the town of Culiacan and the recep- 
tion it received, and other things which happened before 
the departure. 

When the day after Easter came, the army started in the 
morning to go to the town and, as they approached, the in- 
habitants of the town came out on to an open plain with foot 
and horse drawn up in ranks as if for a battle, and having its 
seven bronze pieces of artillery in position, making a show of 
defending their town. Some of our soldiers were with them. 
Our army drew up in the same way and began a skirmish with 
them, and after the artillery on both sides had been fired they 
were driven back, just as if the town had been taken by force 
of arms, which was a pleasant demonstration of welcome, ex- 
cept for the artilleryman who lost a hand by a shot, from 
having ordered them to fire before he had finished drawing out 
the ramrod. After the town was taken, the army was well 
lodged and entertained by the townspeople, who, as they were 
all very well-to-do people, took all the gentlemen and people of 
quality who were with the army into their own apartments, 
although they had lodgings prepared for them all just outside 
the town. Some of the townspeople were not ill repaid for 
this hospitality, because all had started with fine clothes and 
accoutrements, and as they had to carry provisions on their 
animals after this, they were obliged to leave their fine stuff, 
so that many preferred giving it to their hosts instead of risk- 
ing it on the sea by putting it in the ship that had followed the 
army along the coast to take the extra baggage, as I have said. 
After they arrived and were being entertained in the town, the 
general, by order of the viceroy Don Antonio, left Fernanda- 
rias de Saabedra, uncle of Hernandarias de Saabedra, count of 
Castellar, formerly mayor of Seville, as his lieutenant and cap- 
tain in this town. The army rested here several days, because 
the inhabitants had gathered a good stock of provisions that 
year and each one shared his stock very gladly with his guests 



298 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1540 

from our army. They not only had plenty to eat here, but 
they also had plenty to take away with them, so that when the 
departure came they started off with more than six hundred 
loaded animals, besides the friendly Indians and the servants 
— more than a thousand persons. After a fortnight had 
passed, the general started ahead with about fifty horsemen 
and a few foot soldiers and most of the Indian allies, leaving the 
army, which was to follow him a fortnight later, with Don 
Tristan de Arellano in command as his lieutenant. 

At this time, before his departure, a pretty sort of thing hap- 
pened to the general, which I will tell for what it is worth. A 
young soldier named Trugillo (Truxillo) pretended that he had 
seen a vision while he was bathing in the river. Feigning that 
he did not want to, he was brought before the general, whom 
he gave to understand that the devil had told him that if he 
would kill the general, he could marry his wife, Dona Beatris, 
and would receive great wealth and other very fine things. Friar 
Marcos of Nice preached several sermons on this, laying it all to 
the fact that the devil was jealous of the good which must result 
from this journey and so wished to break it up in this way. It 
did not end here, but the friars who were in the expedition 
wrote to their monasteries about it, and this was the reason the 
pulpits of Mexico proclaimed strange rumors about this affair. 

The general ordered Truxillo to stay in that town and not to 
go on the expedition, which was what he was after when he made 
up that falsehood, judging from what afterward appeared to 
be the truth. The general started off with the force already 
described to continue his journey, and the army followed him, 
as will be related. 

Chapter 9 

Of how the army started from Culiacan and the arrival of the 
general at Cibola, and of the army at Senora and of 
other things that happened. 

The general, as has been said, started to continue his jour- 
ney from the valley of Culiacan somewhat lightly equipped, 



1540] EXPEDITION OF CORONADO 299 

taking with him the friars, since none of them wished to stay- 
behind with the army. After they had gone three days, a 
regular friar who could say mass, named Friar Antonio Vic- 
toria, broke his leg, and they brought him back from the camp 
to have it treated. He stayed with the army after this, 
which was no slight consolation for all. The general and his 
force crossed the country without trouble, as they found every- 
thing peaceful, because the Indians knew Friar Marcos and some 
of the others who had been with Melchior Diaz when he went 
with Juan de Saldibar to investigate. After the general had 
crossed the inhabited region and came to Chichilticalli, where 
the wilderness begins, and saw nothing favorable, he could not 
help feeling somewhat downhearted, for, although the reports 
were very fine about what was ahead, there was nobody who 
had seen it except the Indians who went with the negro, and 
these had already been caught in some lies. Besides all this, 
he was much affected by seeing that the fame of Chichilticalli 
was summed up in one tumbledown house without any roof, 
although it appeared to have been a strong place at some for- 
mer time when it was inhabited, and it was very plain that it 
had been built by a civilized and warlike race of strangers who 
had come from a distance. This building was made of red 
earth. 1 From here they went on through the wilderness, and 
in fifteen days came to a river about eight leagues from Cibola 
which they called Red River, 2 because its waters were muddy 
and reddish. In this river they found mullets like those of 
Spain. The first Indians from that country were seen here — 
two of them, who ran away to give the news. During the 
night following the next day, about two leagues from the vil- 
lage, some Indians in a safe place yelled so that, although the 
men were ready for anything, some were so excited that they 

1 Chichilticalli, or the "Red House/' was so named by the Aztec In- 
dians on account of its color. It was doubtless situated on or near the Rio 
Gila, east of the mouth of the San Pedro, probably not far from the present 
Solomonsville in southern Arizona. 

2 The Zuiii River, within the present Arizona. Its waters are very muddy 
in springtime, which is the only time of the year that it flows into the Little 
Colorado. 



300 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1540 

put their saddles on hind-side before ; but these were the new 
fellows. When the veterans had mounted and ridden round 
the camp, the Indians fled. None of them could be caught 
because they knew the country. 

The next day they entered the settled country in good 
order, and when they saw the first village, which was Cibola, 
such were the curses that some hurled at Friar Marcos that I 
pray God may protect him from them. 

It is a little, crowded village, 1 looking as if it had been 
crumpled all up together. There are haciendas in New Spain 
which make a better appearance at a distance. It is a village 
of about two hundred warriors, is three and four stories high, 
with the houses small and having only a few rooms, and with- 
out a courtyard. One yard serves for each section. 2 The 
people of the whole district had collected here, for there are 
seven villages in the province, and some of the others are even 
larger and stronger than Cibola. These folks waited for the 
army, drawn up by divisions in front of the village. When they 
refused to have peace on the terms the interpreters extended 
to them, but appeared defiant, the Santiago 3 was given, 
and they were at once put to flight. The Spaniards then at- 
tacked the village, which was taken with not a little difficulty, 
since they held the narrow and crooked entrance. During the 

1 This was the Zuni Indian pueblo of Hawikuh, one of their seven villages, 
from which Coronado wrote to the Viceroy Mendoza, dating his letter " from 
the province of Cevola, and this city of Granada, the 3d of August, 1540." 
(See Winship's translation in Fourteenth Report of the Bureau of Ethnology , 
pp. 552-563.) Hawikuh, or " Granada," was situated about fifteen miles 
southwest of the present Zuni, near the Zuni River, in New Mexico, and 
its ruins are still to be seen. This was the pueblo in which Estevan doubt- 
less lost his life the year before, and which was viewed from an adjacent 
height by Fray Marcos. Hawikuh was the seat of a mission established by 
the Franciscans in 1629; it was abandoned in 1670 after having been raided 
by the Apaches and its priest killed. The name "Cibola," now and later 
applied to Hawikuh, is believed to be a Spanish form of Shiwina, the Zuni 
name for their tribal range. Cibolo later became the term by which the 
Spaniards of Mexico designated the bison. 

2 The houses were built in terrace fashion, one above the other, the roof 
of one tier forming a sort of front yard for the tier of houses next above it. 

3 The war cry or " loud invocation addressed to Saint James before en- 
gaging in battle with the Infidels." — Captain John Stevens's Dictionary. 



1540] EXPEDITION OF COKONADO 301 

attack they knocked the general down with a large stone, and 
would have killed him but for Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas 
and Hernando de Alvarado, who threw themselves above him 
and drew him away, receiving the blows of the stones, which 
were not few. But the first fury of the Spaniards could not 
be resisted, and in less than an hour they entered the village 
and captured it. They discovered food there, which was the 
thing they were most in need of. After this the whole prov- 
ince was at peace. 

The army which had stayed with Don Tristan de Arellano 
started to follow their general, all loaded with provisions, with 
lances on their shoulders, and all on foot, so as to have the 
horses loaded. With no slight labor from day to day, they 
reached a province which Cabeza de Vaca had named Hearts 
(Corazones), because the people here offered him many hearts 
of animals. 1 He founded a town here and named it San Hier- 
onimo de los Corazones (Saint Jerome of the Hearts). After 
it had been started, it was seen that it could not be kept up 
here, and so it was afterward transferred to a valley which had 
been called Senora. The Spaniards call it Senora, 2 and so it 
will be known by this name. 

From here a force went down the river to the seacoast to 
find the harbor and to find out about the ships. Don Rodrigo 
Maldonado, who was captain of those who went in search of the 
ships, did not find them, but he brought back with him an 
Indian so large and tall that the best man in the army reached 
only to his chest. 3 It was said that other Indians were even 
taller on that coast. After the rains ceased the army went on 
to where the town of Senora was afterward located, 4 because 

1 See Cabeza de Vaca's narrative in the present volume. The place was at 
or near the present Ures, on the Rio Sonora in Sonora, Mexico. 

2 Whence the name of the present state of Sonora. 

3 Evidently a Seri Indian. The Seri are a wild tribe speaking an inde- 
pendent language and occupying the island of Tiburon and the adjacent 
Sonora coast of the Gulf of California. They are noted for their stature. 
For an account of this people, see McGee in Seventeenth Report of the Bureau 
of American Ethnology, pt. 1 (1898). 

4 Believed to be in the present Sonora valley, where it opens out into a 
broader plain a number of miles above Ures. 



302 SPANISH EXPLOEEES [1540 

there were provisions in that region, so that they were able 
to wait there for orders from the general. 

About the middle of the month of October/ Captains Mel- 
chior Diaz and Juan Gallego came from Cibola, Juan Gallego 2 
on his way to New Spain and Melchior Diaz to stay in the new 
town of Hearts, in command of the men who remained there. 
He was to go along the coast in search of the ships. 



Chapter 10 

Of how the army started from the town of Senora, leaving it in- 
habited, and how it reached Cibola, and of what hap- 
pened to Captain Melchior Diaz on his expedition in 
search of the ships and how he discovered the Tison 
(Firebrand) River. 

After Melchior Diaz and Juan Gallego had arrived in the 
town of Senora, it was announced that the army was to depart 
for Cibola ; that Melchior Diaz was to remain in charge of that 
town with eighty men; that Juan Gallego was going to New 
Spain with messages for the viceroy, and that Friar Marcos 
was going back with him, because he did not think it was safe 
for him to stay in Cibola, seeing that his report had turned out 
to be entirely false, because the kingdoms that he had told 
about had not been found, nor the populous cities, nor the 
wealth of gold, nor the precious stones which he had reported, 
nor the fine clothes, nor other things that had been proclaimed 
from the pulpits. When this had been announced, those who 
were to remain were selected and the rest loaded their provi- 
sions and set off in good order about the middle of September 
on the way to Cibola, following their general. 

1 This should be September. 

2 It is not without interest to record here the finding, in 1886, in west- 
ern Kansas, of a sword-blade, greatly corroded, but still bearing sufficient 
trace of the name " Juan Gallego " to enable its determination, as well as 
the inscription " No me saques sin razon No me embaines sin honor." See 
W. E. Ritchey in Mail and Breeze, Topeka, Kansas, July 26, 1902. 



1540] EXPEDITION OF CORONADO 303 

Don Tristan de Arellano stayed in this new town with the 
weakest men, and from this time on there was nothing but 
mutinies and strife, because after the army had gone Captain 
Melchior Diaz took twenty-five of the most efficient men, 
leaving in his place one Diego de Alcaraz, a man unfitted to 
have people under his command. He took guides and went 
toward the north and west in search of the seacoast. After 
going about 150 leagues, they came to a province of exceed- 
ingly tall and strong men — like giants. They are naked and 
live in large straw cabins built underground like smoke-houses, 
with only the straw roof above ground. They enter these at one 
end and come out at the other. More than a hundred persons, 
old and young, sleep in one cabin. When they carry anything, 
they can take a load of more than three or four hundred weight 
on their heads. Once when our men wished to fetch a log for the 
fire, and six men were unable to carry it, one of these Indians 
is reported to have come and raised it in his arms, put it on his 
head alone, and carried it very easily. They eat bread cooked 
in the ashes, as big as the large two-pound loaves of Castile. 
On account of the great cold, they carry a firebrand (tison) 
in the hand when they go from one place to another, with which 
they warm the other hand and the body as well, and in this 
way they keep shifting it every now and then. 1 On this ac- 
count the large river which is in that country was called Rio 
del Tison (Firebrand River). It is a very great river and is 
more than two leagues wide at its mouth; here it is half a 
league across. Here the captain heard that there had been 
ships at a point three days down toward the sea. When he 
reached the place where the ships had been, which was more 
than fifteen leagues up the river from the mouth of the harbor, 
they found written on a tree: "Alarcon reached this place; 
there are letters at the foot of this tree." He dug up the 
letters and learned from them how long Alarcon had waited 
for news of the army and that he had gone back with the ships 

1 These were evidently the Cocopa, a Yuman tribe, whose descendants 
still inhabit the lower Rio Colorado, which is the Rio del Tison of this narra- 
tive. The Cocopa now number perhaps 800. 



304 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1540 

to New Spain, because he was unable to proceed farther, since 
this sea was a bay, which was formed by the Isle of the Mar- 
quis, which is called California, and it was explained that Cali- 
fornia was not an island, but a point of the mainland forming 
the other side of that gulf. 1 

After he had seen this, the captain turned back to go up the 
river, without going down to the sea, to find a ford by which 
to cross to the other side, so as to follow the other bank. After 
they had gone five or six days, it seemed to them as if they could 
cross on rafts. For this purpose they called together a large 
number of the natives, who were waiting for a favorable oppor- 
tunity to make an attack on our men, and when they saw that 
the strangers wanted to cross, they helped make the rafts with 
all zeal and diligence, so as to catch them in this way on the 
water and drown them or else so divide them that they could 
not help one another. While the rafts were being made, a sol- 
dier who had been out around the camp saw a large number of 
armed men go across to a mountain, where they were waiting 
till the soldiers should cross the river. He reported this, and 
an Indian was quietly shut up, in order to find out the truth, 
and when they tortured him he told all the arrangements that 
had been made. These were, that when our men were cross- 
ing and part of them had got over and' part were on the river 
and part were waiting to cross, those who were on the rafts 
should drown those they were taking across and the rest of 
their force should make an attack on both sides of the river. 
If they had had as much discretion and courage as they had 
strength and power, the attempt would have succeeded. 2 

When he knew their plan, the captain had the Indian who 
had confessed the affair killed secretly, and that night he was 
thrown into the river with a weight, so that the Indians would 
not suspect that they were found out. The next day they 

1 It had been supposed that Lower California, the "Isle of the Marquis" 
(Cortes), was an island, yet notwithstanding its determination as a peninsula 
it appeared as an island on maps of a much later period. 

2 The rafts, or balsas, referred to, were made by tying together a large 
number of reeds. The vessel was wide at the middle and pointed at the 
ends, and was very buoyant. 



1540] EXPEDITION OF COEONADO 305 

noticed that our men suspected them, and so they made an 
attack, shooting showers of arrows, but when the horses began 
to catch up with them and the lances wounded them without 
mercy and the musketeers likewise made good shots, they had 
to leave the plain and take to the mountain, until not a man of 
them was to be seen. The force then came back and crossed all 
right, the Indian allies and the Spaniards going across on the 
rafts and the horses swimming alongside the rafts, where we 
will leave them to continue their journey. 

To relate how the army that was on its way to Cibola got 
on: Everything went along in good shape, since the general 
had left everything peaceful, because he wished the people in 
that region to be contented and without fear and willing to do 
what they were ordered. In a province called Vacapan there 
was a large quantity of prickly pears, of which the natives 
make a great deal of preserves. 1 They gave this preserve 
away freely, and as the men of the army ate much of it, they 
all fell sick with a headache and fever, so that the natives might 
have done much harm to the force if they had wished. This 
lasted regularly twenty-four hours. After this they continued 
their march until they reached Chichilticalli. The men in the 
advance guard saw a flock of sheep one day after leaving this 
place. I myself saw and followed them. They had extremely 
large bodies and long wool; their horns were very thick and 
large, and when they run they throw back their heads and put 
their horns on the ridge of their back. They are used to the 
rough country, so that we could not catch them and had to 
leave them. 2 

Three days after we entered the wilderness we found a horn 

1 Vacapan was apparently an Opata pueblo, or rather two pueblos, on a 
branch of the Rio Yaqui, which the Spaniards passed through shortly before 
reaching Corazones (Ures) on the Rio Sonora. The preserved cactus fruit 
is regarded highly by all the Indians of the general region even to-day, and 
in season they subsist largely upon it. The saguara (Cereus giganteus), or 
great columnar cactus, furnishes the chief supply. 

2 The well-known Rocky Mountain sheep. As late as twenty years ago 
some of the mountain ranges of southeastern Arizona, especially the Cata- 
lina Mountains, were noted for this animal. 



306 SPANISH EXPLOKEES [1540 

on the bank of a river that flows in the bottom of a very steep, 
deep gully, which the general had noticed and left there for his 
army to see, for it was six feet long and as thick at the base as 
a man's thigh. It seemed to be more like the horn of a goat 
than of any other animal. It was something worth seeing. 
The army proceeded and was about a day's march from Cibola 
when a very cold tornado came up in the afternoon, followed 
by a great fall of snow, which was a bad combination for the 
carriers. The army went on till it reached some caves in a 
rocky ridge, late in the evening. The Indian allies, who were 
from New Spain, and for the most part from warm countries, 
were in great danger. They felt the coldness of that day so 
much that it was hard work the next day taking care of them, 
for they suffered much pain and had to be carried on the horses, 
the soldiers walking. After this labor the army reached 
Cibola, where their general was waiting for them, with their 
quarters all ready, and here they were reunited, except some 
captains and men who had gone off to discover other prov- 
inces. 

Chapter 11 

Of how Don Pedro de Tovar discovered Tusayan or Tutahaco * 
and Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas saw the Fire- 
brand River, and the other things that had happened. 

While the things already described were taking place, 
Cibola being at peace, the general, Francisco Vazquez, found 
out from the people of the province about the provinces that 
lay around it, and got them to tell their friends and neighbors 
that Christians had come into the country, whose only desire 
was to be their friends, and to find out about good lands to live 
in, and for them to come to see the strangers and talk with them. 
They did this, since they know how to communicate with one 
another in these regions, and they informed him about a prov- 
ince with seven villages of the same sort as theirs, although 
somewhat different. They had nothing to do with these peo- 
1 Compare Chapter 13. These two groups of pueblos were not the same. 



1540] EXPEDITION OF CORONADO 307 

pie. This province is called Tusayan. It is twenty-five leagues 
from Cibola. The villages are high and the people are warlike. 
The general had sent Don Pedro de Tovar to these villages 
with seventeen horsemen and three or four foot-soldiers. 1 
Juan de Padilla, a Franciscan friar, who had been a fighting 
man in his youth, went with them. When they reached thei 
region, they entered the country so quietly that nobody 
observed them, because there were no settlements or farms 
between one village and another and the people do not leave 
the villages except to go to their farms, especially at this time, 
when they had heard that Cibola had been captured by very 
fierce people, who travelled on animals which ate people. This 
information was generally believed by those who had never seen 
horses, although it was so strange as to cause much wonder. 
Our men arrived after nightfall and were able to conceal them- 
selves under the edge of the village, where they heard the 
natives talking in their houses. But in the morning they were 
discovered and drew up in regular order, while the natives came 
out to meet them, with bows, and shields, and wooden clubs, 
drawn up in lines without any confusion. The interpreter was 
given a chance to speak to them and give them due warning, for 
they were very intelligent people, but nevertheless they drew 
fines and insisted that our men should not go across these 
lines toward their village. 2 While they were talking, some men 
acted as if they would cross the lines, and one of the natives 
lost control of himself and struck a horse a blow on the cheek 
of the bridle with his club. Friar Juan, fretted by the time 
that was being wasted in talking with them, said to the cap- 



1 Castaneda speaks as a member of the "army," not of the advance guard. 
See the preceding chapter. 

2 These lines were drawn in corn meal and must not be crossed. To this 
day similar lines of meal are made across a trail when certain ceremonies 
are being performed. The Spaniards were now at the pueblo of Awatobi, the 
first village of the Hopi (Moqui) people of Tusayan, in northeastern Arizona, 
reached in coming from the southward. It was destroyed by the other Hopi 
villagers in 1700, because the Awatobi people favored the re-establishment 
of the Spanish mission that had been destroyed in the great Pueblo revolt 
of 1680. 



308 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1540 

tain: "To tell the truth, I do not know why we came here." 
When the men heard this, they gave the Santiago so suddenly 
that they ran down many Indians and the others fled to the 
town in confusion. Some indeed did not have a chance to do 
this, so quickly did the people in the village come out with 
presents, asking for peace. The captain ordered his force to 
collect, and, as the natives did not do any more harm, he and 
those who were with him found a place to establish their head- 
quarters near the village. They had dismounted here when 
the natives came peacefully, saying that they had come to 
give in the submission of the whole province and that they 
wanted him to be friends with them and to accept the presents 
which they gave him. This was some cotton cloth, although 
not much, because they do not make it in that district. 1 
They also gave him some dressed skins and cornmeal, and 
pine nuts 2 and corn and birds of the country. Afterward 
they presented some turquoises, 3 but not many. The people 
of the whole district came together that day and submitted 
themselves, and they allowed him to enter their villages freely 
to visit, buy, sell, and barter with them. 

It is governed like Cibola, by an assembly of the oldest 
men. They have their governors and generals. This was 
where they obtained the information about a large river, and 
that several days down the river there were some people 
with very large bodies. 4 

As Don Pedro de Tovar was not commissioned to go farther, 
he returned from there and gave this information to the general, 
who dispatched Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas with about 

1 Castaneda, speaking from hearsay with respect to the Tovar expedition, 
errs in this statement, as the Hopi were the principal cotton growers and 
weavers of all the Pueblos. Later Spanish accounts all agree on this point. 
Indeed, even now the Hopi cotton kilts, sashes, and ceremonial robes are 
bartered throughout the Pueblo region. 

2 Pifion nuts. 

3 Obtained by trade with the Rio Grande Pueblos, who mined them in the 
Cerillos, southeast of Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is from the same deposits 
that much of the "matrix turquoise " of our present-day commerce is derived. 

4 See the reference to the Cocopa Indians met by Melchior Diaz, in 
Chapter 10. 



1540] EXPEDITION OF COKONADO 309 

twelve companions to go to see this river. He was well re- 
ceived when he reached Tusayan and was entertained by the 
natives, who gave him guides for his journey. They started 
from here loaded with provisions, for they had to go through a 
desert country before reaching the inhabited region, which the 
Indians said was more than twenty days' journey. After they 
had gone twenty days they came to the banks of the river, which 
seemed to be more than three or four leagues in an air line across 
to the other bank of the stream which flowed between them. 1 
This country was elevated and full of low twisted pines, very 
cold, and lying open toward the north, so that, this being the 
warm season, no one could live there on account of the cold. 
They spent three days on this bank looking for a passage down 
to the river, which looked from above as if the water was six 
feet across, although the Indians said it was half a league wide. 
It was impossible to descend, for after these three days Captain 
Melgosa and one Juan Galeras and another companion, who 
were the three lightest and most agile men, made an attempt 
to go down at the least difficult place, and went down until 
those who were above were unable to keep sight of them. 
They returned about four o'clock in the afternoon, not having 
succeeded in reaching the bottom on account of the great 
difficulties which they found, because what seemed to be easy 
from above was not so, but instead very hard and difficult. 
They said that they had been down about a third of the way 
and that the river seemed very large from the place which they 
reached, and that from what they saw they thought the Ind- 
ians had given the width correctly. Those who stayed above 
had estimated that some huge rocks on the sides of the cliffs 
seemed to be about as tall as a man, but those who went down 
swore that when they reached these rocks they were bigger 
than the great tower of Seville. 2 They did not go farther up 
the river, because they could not get water. Before this they 

1 The Grand Canon of the Colorado, now visited and described by white 
men for the first time. 

2 The Giralda, or celebrated bell-tower of the Cathedral of Seville, which 
is 275 feet high. 



310 SPANISH EXPLOEEES [1540 

had had to go a league or two inland every day late in the even- 
ing in order to find water, and the guides said that if they 
should go four days farther it would not be possible to go on, 
because there was no water within three or four days, for when 
they travel across this region themselves they take with them 
women loaded with water in gourds, and bury the gourds of 
water along the way, to use when they return, and besides this, 
they travel in one day over what it takes us two days to accom- 
plish. 

This was the Tison (Firebrand) River, much nearer its 
source than where Melchior Diaz and his company crossed it. 
These were the same kind of Indians, judging from what was 
afterward learned. They came back from this point and the 
expedition did not have any other result. On the way they 
saw some water falling over a rock and learned from the guides 
that some bunches of crystals which were hanging there were 
salt. They went and gathered a quantity of this and brought 
it back to Cibola, dividing it among those who were there. 
They gave the general a written account of what they had seen, 
because one Pedro de Sotomayor had gone with Don Garcia 
Lopez [de Cardenas] as chronicler for the army. The villages 
of that province [of Tusayan] remained peaceful, since they 
were never visited again, nor was any attempt made to find 
other peoples in that direction. 

Chapter 12 

Of how people came from Cicuye to Cibola to see the Christians, 
and how Hernando de Alvarado went to see the cows. 

While they were making these discoveries, some Indians 
came to Cibola from a village which was seventy leagues east 
of this province, called Cicuye. Among them was a captain 
who was called Bigotes (Whiskers) by our men, because he wore 
a long mustache. He was a tall, well-built young fellow, with 
a fine figure. He told the general that they had come in 
response to the notice which had been given, to offer themselves 



1540] EXPEDITION OF CORONADO 311 

as friends, and that if we wanted to go through their country 
they would consider us as their friends. They brought a pres- 
ent of tanned hides and shields and head-pieces, which were 
very gladly received, and the general gave them some glass 
dishes and a number of pearls and little bells which they prized 
highly, because these were things they had never seen. They 
described some cows which, from a picture that one of them 
had painted on his skin, seemed to be cows, although from the 
hides this did not seem possible, because the hair was woolly 
and snarled so that we could not tell what sort of skins they 
had. The general ordered Hernando de Alvarado to take 
twenty companions and go with them, and gave him a com- 
mission for eighty days, after which he should return to give 
an account of what he had found. 1 

Captain Alvarado started on this journey and in five days 
reached a village which was on a rock called Acuco 2 having a 
population of about two hundred men. These people were 
robbers, feared by the whole country round about. The vil- 
lage was very strong, because it was up on a rock out of reach, 
having steep sides in every direction, and so high that it was a 
very good musket that could throw a ball as high. There was 
only one entrance by a stairway built by hand, which began at 
the top of a slope which is around the foot of the rock. 3 There 
was a broad stairway for about two hundred steps, then a 
stretch of about one hundred narrower steps, and at the top 
they had to go up about three times as high as a man by means 
of holes in the rock, in which they put the points of their feet, 

1 The report of Alvarado, translated by George Parker Winship, is pub- 
lished in the Fourteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology (Washing- 
ton, 1896). 

2 This is the pueblo of Acoma, about fifty miles east of Zuni. It occupies 
the summit of the same rocky mesa, 357 feet high, that it did in Coronado's 
time. The name here given is doubtless an attempt to give the Zufii desig- 
nation, Hdkukia, from Ako, the name by which it is known to the Acoma 
people. The present population is 650. Acoma has the distinction of being 
the oldest continuously occupied settlement in the United States. 

3 The slope referred to is an immense sand-dune. The horse trail did 
not exist in Coronado's time, having been built by Fray Juan Ramirez, who 
established a mission at Acoma in 1629. 



312 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1540 

holding on at the same time by their hands. There was a wall 
of large and small stones at the top, which they could roll down 
without showing themselves, so that no army could possibly 
be strong enough to capture the village. On the top they had 
room to sow and store a large amount of corn, and cisterns to 
collect snow and water. 1 These people came down to the plain 
ready to fight, and would not listen to any arguments. They 
drew lines on the ground and determined to prevent our men 
from crossing these, but when they saw that they would have 
to fight they offered to make peace before any harm had been 
done. They went through their forms of making peace, which 
is to touch the horses and take their sweat and rub themselves 
with it, and to make crosses with the fingers of the hands. But 
to make the most secure peace they put their hands across each 
other, and they keep this peace inviolably. They made a 
present of a large number of [turkey-] cocks with very big 
wattles, much bread, tanned deerskins, pine [pinon] nuts, flour 
[cornmeal], and corn. 

From here they went to a province called Triguex, 2 three 
days distant. The people all came out peacefully, seeing that 
Whiskers was with them. These men are feared throughout 
all those provinces. Alvarado sent messengers back from here 
to advise the general to come and winter in this country. 
The general was not a little relieved to hear that the country 
was growing better. Five days from here he came to Cicuye, 3 
a very strong village four stories high. The people came out 
from the village with signs of joy to welcome Hernando de 
Alvarado and their captain, and brought them into the town 
with drums and pipes something like flutes, of which they 
have a great many. They made many presents of cloth and 
turquoises, of which there are quantities in that region. 4 
The Spaniards enjoyed themselves here for several days 
and talked with an Indian slave, a native of the country 

1 The Acomas still obtain their water supply from this source. 

2 Tiguex. See p. 317, note. 

3 Pecos. See p. 329, note 2. 

4 See p. 308, note 3. 



1540] EXPEDITION OF CORONADO 313 

toward Florida, which is the region Don Fernando de 
Soto discovered. This fellow said that there were large 
settlements in the farther part of that country. Her- 
nando de Alvarado took him to guide them to the cows ; but 
he told them so many and such great things about the wealth 
of gold and silver in his country that they did not care about 
looking for cows, but returned after they had seen some few, 
to report the rich news to the general. They called the Ind- 
ian "Turk," because he looked like one. Meanwhile the general 
had sent Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas to Tiguex with men to 
get lodgings ready for the army, which had arrived from Sefiora 
about this time, before taking them there for the winter ; and 
when Hernando de Alvarado reached Tiguex, on his way back 
from Cicuye, he found Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas there, 
and so there was no need for him to go farther. As it was 
necessary that the natives should give the Spaniards lodging 
places, the people in one village had to abandon it and go to 
others belonging to their friends, and they took with them noth- 
ing but themselves and the clothes they had on. Information 
was obtained here about many towns up toward the north, and 
I believe that it would have been much better to follow this 
direction than that of the Turk, who was the cause of all the 
misfortunes which followed. 



Chapter 13 

Of how the general went toward Tutahaco with a few men and 
left the army with Don Tristan, who took it to Tiguex. 

Everything already related had happened when Don Tris- 
tan de Arellano reached Cibola from Sefiora. Soon after he 
arrived, the general, who had received notice of a province con- 
taining eight villages, took thirty of the men who were most fully 
rested and went to see it, going from there directly to Tiguex 
with the skilled guides who conducted him. He left orders for 
Don Tristan de Arellano to proceed to Tiguex by the direct 
road, after the men had rested twenty days. On this journey, 



314 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1540 

between one day "when they left the camping place and mid-day 
of the third day, when they saw some snow-covered moun- 
tains, toward which they went in search of water, neither the 
Spaniards nor the horses nor the servants drank anything. 
They were able to stand it because of the severe cold, although 
with great difficulty. In eight days they reached Tutahaco, 1 
where they learned that there were other towns down the river. 
These people were peaceful. The villages are terraced, like 
those at Tiguex, and of the same style. The general went up 
the river from here, visiting the whole province, until he reached 
Tiguex, where he found Hernando de Alvarado and the Turk. 
He felt no slight joy at such good news, because the Turk said 
that in his country there was a river in the level country which 
was two leagues wide, in which there were fishes as big as horses, 
and large numbers of very big canoes, with more than twenty 
rowers on a side, and that they carried sails, and that their 
lords sat on the poop under awnings, and on the prow they had 
a great golden eagle. He said also that the lord of that country 
took his afternoon nap under a great tree on which were hung 
a great number of little gold bells, which put him to sleep as 
they swung in the air. He said also that everyone had their 
ordinary dishes made of wrought plate, and the jugs and bowls 
were of gold. He called gold acochis. For the present he was 
believed, on account of the ease with which he told it and be- 
cause they showed him metal ornaments and he recognized 
them and said they were not gold, and he knew gold and silver 
very well and did not care anything about other metals. 2 

1 This name has always been a problem to students of the expedition, and 
various attempts have been made to determine its application. Jaramillo, 
one of Coronado's captains, applies the name to Acoma, and indeed its final 
syllables are the same as the native name of Acoma. In the heading to 
Chapter 11 Castafieda erroneously makes Tutahaco synonymous with 
Tusayan. The description indicates that the Tigua village of Isleta and 
others in its vicinity on the Rio Grande in the sixteenth century were intended. 

2 This Eldorado is seemingly a combination of falsehood and misinterpre- 
tation. The Turk's only means of communication were signs ; and we shall 
see later on that he deliberately deceived the Spaniards for the purpose of 
leading them astray. The name acochis here given is an aid in the identifica- 
tion of the mysterious province of Quivira. See p. 337, note 1. 



1540] EXPEDITION OF COEONADO 315 

The general sent Hernando de Alvarado back to Cicuye 
to demand some gold bracelets which this Turk said they had 
taken from him at the time they captured him. Alvarado 
went, and was received as a friend at the village, and when he 
demanded the bracelets they said they knew nothing at all 
about them, saying the Turk was deceiving him and was lying. 
Captain Alvarado, seeing that there were no other means, got 
the captain Whiskers and the governor to come to his tent, 
and when they had come he put them in chains. The villagers 
prepared to fight, and let fly their arrows, denouncing Hernando 
de Alvarado, and saying that he was a man who had no respect 
for peace and friendship. Hernando de Alvarado started back 
to Tiguex, where the general kept them prisoners more than 
six months. This began the want of confidence in the word of 
the Spaniards whenever there was talk of peace from this time 
on, as will be seen by what happened afterward. 

Chapter 14 

Of how the army went from Cibola to Tiguex and what happened 
to them on the way, on account of the snow. 

We have already said that when the general started from 
Cibola, he left orders for Don Tristan de Arellano to start 
twenty days later. He did so as soon as he saw that the men 
were well rested and provided with food and eager to start off 
to find their general. He set off with his force toward Tiguex, 
and the first day they made their camp in the best, largest, and 
finest village of that (Cibola) province. 1 This is the only village 
that has houses with seven stories. In this village certain 
houses are used as fortresses ; they are higher than the others 
and set up above them like towers, and there are embrasures 
and loopholes in them for defending the roofs of the different 

1 This was Matsaki, at the northwestern base of Thunder Mountain, about 
three miles east of the present Zufii and eighteen miles northeast of Hawikuh, 
where the advance force had encamped. The ruins may still be seen, but 
no standing walls are visible. 



316 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1540 

stories, because, like the other villages, they do not have streets, 
and the flat roofs are all of a height and are used in common. 
The roofs have to be reached first, and these upper houses are 
the means of defending them. It began to snow on us there, 
and the force took refuge under the wings of the village, which 
extend out like balconies, with wooden pillars beneath, because 
they generally use ladders to go up to those balconies, since 
they do not have any doors below. 1 

The army continued its march from here after it stopped 
snowing, and as the season had already advanced into Decem- 
ber, during the ten days that the army was delayed, it did not 
fail to snow during the evenings and nearly every night, so 
that they had to clear away a large amount of snow when they 
came to where they wanted to make a camp. The road could 
not be seen, but the guides managed to find it, as they knew the 
country. There are junipers and pines all over the country, 
which they used in making large brushwood fires, the smoke 
and heat of which melted the snow from two to four yards all 
around the fire. It was a dry snow, so that although it fell 
on the baggage, and covered it for half a man's height, it did 
not hurt it. It fell all night long, covering the baggage and the 
soldiers and their beds, piling up in the air, so that if anyone 
had suddenly come upon the army nothing would have been 
seen but mountains of snow. The horses stood half buried in it. 
It kept those who were underneath warm instead of cold. 
The army passed by the great rock of Acuco, 2 and the natives, 
who were peaceful, entertained our men well, giving them pro- 
visions and birds, although there are not many people here, as 
I have said. Many of the gentlemen went up to the top to see 
it, and they had great difficulty in going up the steps in the 
rock, because they were not used to them, for the natives go up 

1 The first-story rooms were entered by means of hatchways through the 
roof. As the necessity for defence no longer exists, the rooms of the lower 
stories of Zuni houses are provided with doors and windows. 

2 The army passed from Cibola by way of the present farming village of 
Pescado, Inscription Rock or El Morro (thirty miles east of Zuni), and over 
the Zuni Mountains to Acoma. Alvarado followed an almost impassable trail 
eastward from Hawikuh, across a great lava flow, to reach Acoma. 



1540] EXPEDITION OF COEONADO 317 

and down so easily that they carry loads and the women carry- 
water, and they do not seem even to touch their hands, although 
our men had to pass their weapons up from one to another. 

From here they went on to Tiguex, where they were well 
received and taken care of, and the great good news of the 
Turk gave no little joy and helped lighten their hard labors, 
although when the army arrived we found the whole country 
or province in revolt, for reasons which were not slight in 
themselves, as will be shown, and our men had also burnt a 
village the day before the army arrived, and returned to the 
camp. 

Chapter 15 

Of why Tiguex revolted, and how they were punished, without 
being to blame for it. 

It has been related how the general reached Tiguex, 1 
where he found Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas and Hernando 
de Alvarado, and how he sent the latter back to Cicuye, where 
he took the captain Whiskers and the governor of the village, 
who was an old man, prisoners. The people of Tiguex did not 
feel well about this seizure. In addition to this, the general 
wished to obtain some clothing to divide among his soldiers, 
and for this purpose he summoned one of the chief Indians 
of Tiguex, with whom he had already had much inter- 
course and with whom he was on good terms, who was called 
Juan Aleman by our men, after a Juan Aleman who lived in 
Mexico, whom he was said to resemble. The general told him 
that he must furnish about three hundred or more pieces of 
cloth, which he needed to give his people. He said that he 

1 Tiguex (pronounced Tee-guaysh') is the name of a group of Pueblo 
tribes, now consisting of Isleta, Sandia, Taos, and Picuris, speaking the Tigua 
language, as it is now designated. Their principal village in Coronado's 
time was also called Tiguex by the Spaniards ; this was the Puaray of forty 
years later (1583), the first time the native name was recorded. It was 
situated at the site of Bernalillo, on the Rio Grande, and was inhabited up 
to the time of the Pueblo rebellion of 1680, when it contained two hundred 
Tiguas and Spaniards. 



318 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1540 

was not able to do this, but that it pertained to the governors ; 
and that besides this, they would have to consult together and 
divide it among the villages, and that it was necessary to make 
the demand of each town separately. The general did this, 
and ordered certain of the gentlemen who were with him to go 
and make the demand ; and as there were twelve villages, some 
of them went on one side of the river and some on the other. 
As they were in very great need, they did not give the natives 
a chance to consult about it, but when they came to a village 
they demanded what they had to give, so that they could pro- 
ceed at once. Thus these people could do nothing except take 
off their own cloaks and give them to make up the number de- 
manded of them. And some of the soldiers who were in these 
parties, when the collectors gave them some blankets or cloaks 
which were not such as they wanted, if they saw any Indian 
with a better one on, they exchanged with him without more 
ado, not stopping to find out the rank of the man they were 
stripping, which caused not a little hard feeling. 

Besides what I have just said, one whom I will not name, out 
of regard for him, left the village where the camp was and went 
to another village about a league distant, and seeing a pretty 
woman there he called her husband down to hold his horse by 
the bridle while he went up ; and as the village was entered by 
the upper story, the Indian supposed he was going to some 
other part of it. While he was there the Indian heard some 
slight noise, and then the Spaniard came down, took his horse, 
and went away. The Indian went up and learned that he had 
violated, or tried to violate, his wife, and so he came with the 
important men of the town to complain that a man had violated 
his wife, and he told how it happened. When the general 
made all the soldiers and the persons who were with him come 
together, the Indian did not recognize the man, either because 
he had changed his clothes or for whatever other reason there 
may have been, but he said that he could tell the horse, because 
he had held his bridle, and so he was taken to the stables, and 
found the horse, and said that the master of the horse must be 
the man. He denied doing it, seeing that he had not been 



1540] EXPEDITION OE CORONADO 319 

recognized, and it may be that the Indian was mistaken in the 
horse; anyway, he went off without getting any satisfaction. 
The next day one of the Indians, who was guarding the horses 
of the army, came running in, saying that a companion of his 
had been killed, and that the Indians of the country were driv- 
ing off the horses toward their villages. The Spaniards tried 
to collect the horses again, but many were lost, besides seven 
of the general's mules. 1 

The next day Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas went to see 
the villages and talk with the natives. He found the villages 
closed by palisades and a great noise inside, the horses being 
chased as in a bull fight and shot with arrows. They were all 
ready for fighting. Nothing could be done, because they would 
not come down onto the plain and the villages are so strong that 
the Spaniards could not dislodge them. The general then or- 
dered Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas to go and surround one 
village with all the rest of the force. This village was the one 
where the greatest injury had been done and where the affair 
with the Indian woman occurred. Several captains who had 
gone on in advance with the general, Juan de Saldivar and 
Barrionuevo and Diego Lopez and Melgosa, took the Indians 
so much by surprise that they gained the upper story, with great 
danger, for they wounded many of our men from within the 
houses. Our men were on top of the houses in great danger 
for a day and a night and part of the next day, and they made 
some good shots with their crossbows and muskets. The horse- 
men on the plain with many of the Indian allies from New Spain 
smoked them out from the cellars 2 into which they had broken, 
so that they begged for peace. Pablo de Melgosa and Diego 
Lopez, the alderman from Seville, were left on the roof and 
answered the Indians with the same signs they were making 
for peace, which was to make a cross. They then put down 

1 Antonio de Espejo learned of this occurrence at " Puala " (Puaray) 
when the place was visited by him in 1583 (see Documentos Ineditos de In- 
dias, XV. 175). 

2 The pueblos are not provided with cellars. The underground ceremonial 
chambers, or kivas, are doubtless here meant. 



320 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1541 

their arms and received pardon. They were taken to the tent 
of Don Garcia, who, according to what he said, did not know 
about the peace and thought that they had given themselves 
up of their own accord because they had been conquered. As 
he had been ordered by the general not to take them alive, but 
to make an example of them so that the other natives would 
fear the Spaniards, he ordered two hundred stakes to be pre- 
pared at once to burn them alive. Nobody told him about 
the peace that had been granted them, for the soldiers knew 
as little as he, and those who should have told him about it 
remained silent, not thinking that it was any of their business. 
Then when the enemies saw that the Spaniards were binding 
them and beginning to roast them, about a hundred men who 
were in the tent began to struggle and defend themselves with 
what there was there and with the stakes they could seize. 
Our men who were on foot attacked the tent on all sides, so 
that there was great confusion around it, and then the horse- 
men chased those who escaped. As the country was level, 
not a man of them remained alive, unless it was some who re- 
mained hidden in the village and escaped that night to spread 
throughout the country the news that the strangers did not 
respect the peace they had made, which afterward proved a 
great misfortune. After this was over, it began to snow, and 
they abandoned the village and returned to the camp just as 
the army came from Cibola. 

Chapter 16 

Of how they besieged Tiguex and took it and of what happened 

during the siege. 

As I have already related, it began to snow in that coun- 
try just after they captured the village, and it snowed so 
much that for the next two months x it was impossible to do 
anything except to go along the roads to advise them to make 

1 The altitude of Bernalillo is 5260 feet, and snowstorms are sometimes 
severe. 



1541] EXPEDITION OF COKOKADO 321 

peace and tell them that they would be pardoned and might 
consider themselves safe, to which they replied that they did 
not trust those who did not know how to keep good faith 
after they had once given it, and that the Spaniards should 
remember that they were keeping Whiskers prisoner and 
that they did not keep their word when they burned those 
who surrendered in the village. Don Garcia Lopez de 
Cardenas was one of those who went to give this notice. 
He started out with about thirty companions and went to 
the village of Tiguex to talk with Juan Aleman. Although 
they were hostile, they talked with him and said that if he 
wished to talk with them he must dismount and they would 
come out and talk with him about a peace, and that if he would 
send away the horsemen and make his men keep away, Juan 
Aleman and another captain would come out of the village and 
meet him. Everything was done as they required, and then 
when they approached they said that they had no arms and 
that he must take his off. Don Garcia Lopez did this in order 
to give them confidence, on account of his great desire to get 
them to make peace. When he met them, Juan Aleman ap- 
proached and embraced him vigorously, while the other two 
who had come with him drew two mallets 1 which they had 
hidden behind their backs and gave him two such blows over 
his helmet that they almost knocked him senseless. Two of 
the soldiers on horseback had been unwilling to go very far off, 
even when he ordered them, and so they were near by and rode 
up so quickly that they rescued him from their hands, although 
they were unable to catch the enemies because the meeting was 
so near the village that of the great shower of arrows which were 
shot at them one arrow hit a horse and went through his nose. 
The horsemen all rode up together and hurriedly carried off 
their captain, without being able to harm the enemy, while 
many of our men were dangerously wounded. They then 
withdrew, leaving a number of men to continue the attack. 
Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas went on with a part of the force 
to another village about half a league distant, because almost 

1 Wooden war-clubs. 



322 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1541 

all the people in this region had collected into these two villages. 
As they paid no attention to the demands made on them except 
by shooting arrows from the upper stories with loud yells, and 
would not hear of peace, he returned to his companions whom 
he had left to keep up the attack on Tiguex. A large number 
of those in the village came out and our men rode off slowly, 
pretending to flee, so that they drew the enemy on to the plain, 
and then turned on them and caught several of their leaders. 
The rest collected on the roofs of the village and the captain 
returned to his camp. 

After this affair the general ordered the army to go and 
surround the village. He set out with his men in good order, 
one day, with several scaling ladders. When he reached the 
village, he encamped his force near by, and then began the 
siege ; but as the enemy had had several days to provide them- 
selves with stores, they threw down such quantities of rocks 
upon our men that many of them were laid out, and they 
wounded nearly a hundred with arrows, several of whom after- 
ward died on account of the bad treatment by an unskillful 
surgeon who was with the army. The siege lasted fifty days, 
during which time several assaults were made. The lack of 
water was what troubled the Indians most. They dug a very 
deep well inside the village, but were not able to get water, 
and while they were making it, it fell in and killed thirty per- 
sons. Two hundred of the besieged died in the fights. One day 
when there was a hard fight, they killed Francisco de Obando, 
a captain who had been army-master all the time that Don 
Garcia Lopez de Cardenas was away making the discoveries 
already described, and also Francisco Pobares, a fine gentleman. 
Our men were unable to prevent them from carrying Francisco 
de Obando inside the village, which was regretted not a little, 
because he was a distinguished person, besides being honored 
on his own account, affable and much beloved, which was 
noticeable. One day, before the capture was completed, 
they asked to speak to us, and said that, since they knew we 
would not harm the women and children, they wished to sur- 
render their women and sons, because they were using up their 



1541] EXPEDITION OF CORONADO 323 

"water. It was impossible to persuade them to make peace, 
as they said that the Spaniards would not keep an agreement 
made with them. So they gave up about a hundred persons, 
women and boys, who did not want to leave them. Don Lope 
de Urrea rode up in front of the town without his helmet and 
received the boys and girls in his arms, and when all of these 
had been surrendered, Don Lope begged them to make peace, 
giving them the strongest promises for their safety. They told 
him to go away, as they did not wish to trust themselves to 
people who had no regard for friendship or their own word 
which they had pledged. As he seemed unwilling to go away, 
one of them put an arrow in his bow ready to shoot, and 
threatened to shoot him with it unless he went off, and they 
warned him to put on his helmet, but he was unwilling to do 
so, saying that they would not hurt him as long as he stayed 
there. When the Indian saw that he did not want to go away, 
he shot and planted his arrow between the fore feet of the horse, 
and then put another arrow in his bow and repeated that if 
he did not go away he would really shoot him. Don Lope 
put on his helmet and slowly rode back to where the horsemen 
were, without receiving any harm from them. When they 
saw that he was really in safety, they began to shoot arrows 
in showers, with loud yells and cries. The general did not want 
to make an assault that day, in order to see if they could be 
brought in some way to make peace, which they would not 
consider. 

Fifteen days later they decided to leave the village one 
night, and did so, taking the women in their midst. They 
started about the fourth watch, in the very early morning, on 
the side where the cavalry was. The alarm was given by 
those in the camp of Don Rodrigo Maldonado. The enemy at- 
tacked them and killed one Spaniard and a horse and wounded 
others, but they were driven back with great slaughter until 
they came to the river, 1 where the water flowed swiftly and 
very cold. They threw themselves into this, and as the men 
had come quickly from the whole camp to assist the cavalry, 
1 The Rio Grande, which is near by. 



324 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1541 

there were few who escaped being killed or wounded. Some 
men from the camp went across the river next day and found 
many of them who had been overcome by the great cold. 
They brought these back, cured them, and made servants of 
them. This ended that siege, and the town was captured, al- 
though there were a few who remained in one part of the town 
and were captured a few days later. 

Two captains, Don Diego de Guevara and Juan de Saldivar, 
had captured the other large village after a siege. Having 
started out very early one morning to make an ambuscade in 
which to catch some warriors who used to come out every 
morning to try to frighten our camp, the spies, who had been 
placed where they could see when they were coming, saw the 
people come out and proceed toward the country. The soldiers 
left the ambuscade and went to the village and saw the people 
fleeing. They pursued and killed large numbers of them. 
At the same time those in the camp were ordered to go over 
the town, and they plundered it, making prisoners of all the 
people who were found in it, amounting to about a hundred 
women and children. This siege ended the last of March, in 
the year '42 [1541]. Other things had happened in the mean- 
time, which would have been noticed, but that it would have 
cut the thread. I have omitted them, but will relate them now, 
so that it will be possible to understand what follows. 

Chapter 17 

Of how messengers reached the army from the valley of Senora, 
and how Captain Melchior Diaz died on the expedition 
to the Firebrand River. 

We have already related how Captain Melchior Diaz crossed 
the Firebrand River [Rio Colorado] on rafts, in order to continue 
his discoveries farther in that direction. About the time the 
siege ended, messengers reached the army from the city of San 
Hieronimo with letters from Diego de Alarcon, 1 who had re- 

1 Should be Alcaraz. See Chapter 10. 



1541] EXPEDITION OF CORONADO 325 

mained there in the place of Melchior Diaz. These contained 
the news that Melchior Diaz had died while he was conducting 
his search, and that the force had returned without finding any 
of the things they were after. It all happened in this fashion : 
After they had crossed the river they continued their 
search for the coast, which here turned back toward the 
south, 1 or between south and east, because that arm of the sea 
enters the land due north, and this river, which brings its 
waters down from the north, flowing toward the south, enters 
the head of the gulf. 2 Continuing in the direction they had 
been going, they came to some sandbanks of hot ashes which 
it was impossible to cross without being drowned as in the 
sea. The ground they were standing on trembled like a sheet 
of paper, so that it seemed as if there were lakes underneath 
them. It seemed wonderful and like something infernal, for 
the ashes to bubble up here in several places. After they had 
gone away from this place, on account of the danger they 
seemed to be in and of the lack of water, one day a greyhound 
belonging to one of the soldiers chased some sheep which they 
were taking along for food. When the captain noticed this, 
he threw his lance at the dog while his horse was running, so 
that it stuck up in the ground, and not being able to stop his 
horse he went over the lance so that it nailed him through 
the thighs and the iron came out behind, rupturing his blad- 
der. After this the soldiers turned back with their captain, 
having to fight every day with the Indians, who had re- 
mained hostile. He lived about twenty days, during which 
they proceeded with great difficulty on account of the neces- 
sity of carrying him. They returned in good order without 
losing a man, until he died, and after that they were relieved 
of the greatest difficulty. When they reached Senora, Alcaraz 
despatched the messengers already referred to, so that the 
general might know of this and also that some of the soldiers 

1 That is, the west coast of the Gulf of California. 

2 During 1905 the waters of the Rio Colorado were diverted westward 
below Yuma and are now (1906) flowing into the Salton Sink, or Imperial 
Valley, in southern California, forming an immense lake. 



326 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1541 

were ill-disposed and had caused several mutinies, and that 
he had sentenced two of them to the gallows, but they had 
afterward escaped from the prison. 

When the general learned this, he sent Don Pedro de Tovar 
to that city to sift out some of the men. He was accompanied 
by messengers whom the general sent to Don Antonio de Men- 
doza the viceroy, with an account of what had occurred and 
with the good news given by the Turk. When Don Pedro de 
Tovar arrived there, he found that the natives of that prov- 
ince had killed a soldier with a poisoned arrow, which had 
made only a very little wound in one hand. 1 Several soldiers 
went to the place where this happened to see about it, and 
they were not very well received. Don Pedro de Tovar sent 
Diego de Alcaraz with a force to seize the chiefs and lords of 
a village in what they call the Valley of Knaves (de los Vella- 
cos), which is in the hills. After getting there and getting these 
men prisoners, Diego de Alcaraz decided to let them go in ex- 
change for some thread and cloth and other things which the 
soldiers needed. Finding themselves free, they renewed the 
war and attacked them, and as they were strong and had poi- 
son, they killed several Spaniards and wounded others so that 
they died on the way back. They retired toward the town, 
and if they had not had Indian allies from the country of the 
Hearts, it would have gone worse with them. They got back 
to the town, leaving seventeen soldiers dead from the poison. 
They would die in agony from only a small wound, the bodies 
breaking out with an insupportable pestilential stench. Wlien 
Don Pedro de Tovar saw the harm done, and as it seemed to 
them that they could not safely stay in that city, he moved 
forty leagues toward Cibola into the valley of Suva, 2 where we 
will leave them, in order to relate what happened to the gen- 
eral and his army after the siege of Tiguex. 

1 Doubtless the Opatas, whose poisoned arrows are often alluded to by 
later Spanish writers. See, for example, the Rudo Ensayo (ca. 1762), (San 
Augustin, 1863) ; also Guiteras's translation in Records of the American 
Catholic Historical Society, V. No. 2 (Philadelphia, June, 1894). 

2 The upper part of the Rio San Pedro (which rises in northern Sonora), 
according to recent studies by Mr. James Newton Baskett. 



1541] EXPEDITION OE CORONADO 327 



Chapter 18 

Of how the general managed to leave the country in peace so as 
to go in search of Quivira, where the Turk said there 
was the most wealth. 

During the siege of Tiguex the general decided to go to 
Cicuye and take the governor with him, in order to give him 
his liberty and to promise them that he would give Whiskers 
his liberty and leave him in the village, as soon as he should 
start for Quivira. He was received peacefully when he reached 
Cicuye, and entered the village with several soldiers. They 
received their governor with much joy and gratitude. After 
looking over the village and speaking with the natives he 
returned to his army, leaving Cicuye at peace, in the hope of 
getting back their captain Whiskers. 

After the siege was ended, as we have already related, he 
sent a captain to Chia, 1 a fine village with many people, which 
had sent to offer its submission. It was four leagues distant 
to the west of the river. 2 They found it peaceful and gave it 
four bronze cannon, which were in poor condition, to take 
care of. Six gentlemen also went to Quirix, a province with 
seven villages. 3 At the first village, which had about a hun- 
dred inhabitants, the natives fled, not daring to wait for our 
men; but they headed them off by a short cut, riding at full 
speed, and then they returned to their houses in the village 

1 The present Sia, a small pueblo on the Rio Jemez. In 1583 Sia was one 
of a group of five pueblos which Antonio de Espejo called Cunames or Puna- 
mes. It suffered severely by the Pueblo revolt a century later, and is now 
reduced to about a hundred people who have great difficulty in gaining a 
livelihood, owing to lack of water for irrigation. 

2 That is, the Rio Grande. 

3 The "province" occupied by the Queres or Keresan Indians, consisting 
of the pueblos of Cochiti, San Felipe, and Santo Domingo, of to-day — all 
on the Rio Grande. Sia and Santa Ana are and were also Queres villages in 
Coronado's time, but as these were not on the Rio Grande, they may not 
have been included in Castaneda's group. When Espejo visited the Queres 
in 1583, they occupied only five pueblos on the Rio Grande; now only the 
three above mentioned are inhabited. 



328 SPANISH EXPLOEERS [1541 

in perfect safety, and then told the other villagers about it 
and reassured them. In this way the entire region was reas- 
sured, little by little, by the time the ice in the river was broken 
up and it became possible to ford the river and so to continue 
the journey. The twelve villages of Tiguex, however, were 
not repopulated at all during the time the army was there, in 
spite of every promise of security that could possibly be given 
to them. 

And when the river, which for almost four months had been 
frozen over so that they crossed the ice on horseback, had 
thawed out, orders were given for the start for Quivira, 1 where 
the Turk said there was some gold and silver, although not so 
much as in Arche 2 and the Guaes. 3 There were already some 
in the army who suspected the Turk, because a Spaniard 
named Servantes, who had charge of him during the siege, 
solemnly swore that he had seen the Turk talking with the 
devil in a pitcher of water, and also that while he had him 
under lock so that no one could speak to him, the Turk had 
asked him what Christians had been killed by the people at 
Tiguex. He told him " nobody," and then the Turk answered : 
"You lie; five Christians are dead, including a captain." 
And as Cervantes knew that he told the truth, he confessed 
it so as to find out who had told him about it, and the Turk 
said he knew it all by himself and that he did not need to 
have anyone tell him in order to know it. And it was on ac- 
count of this that he watched him and saw him speaking to 
the devil in the pitcher, as I have said. 

While all this was going on, preparations were being made 
to start from Tiguex. At this time people came from Cibola to 
see the general, and he charged them to take good care of the 
Spaniards who were coming from Senora with Don Pedro de 
Tovar. He gave them letters to give to Don Pedro, informing 

1 See p. 337, note 1. 

2 Evidently the Harahey of other chroniclers, which has been identified 
with the Pawnee country of southern Nebraska. 

3 Possibly the Kansa or Kaw tribe, after whom the state of Kansas is 
named. 



1541] EXPEDITION OE CORONADO 329 

him what he ought to do and how he should go to find the 
army, and that he would find letters under the crosses which 
the army would put up along the way. The army left Tiguex 
on the fifth of May * and returned to Cicuye, which, as I have 
said, is twenty-five marches, which means leagues, from there, 
taking Whiskers with them. 2 Arrived there, he gave them 
their captain, who already went about freely with a guard. 
The village was very glad to see him, and the people were 
peaceful and offered food. The governor and Whiskers gave 
the general a young fellow called Xabe, a native of Quivira, 
who could give them information about the country. This 
fellow said that there was gold and silver, but not so much of 
it as the Turk had said. The Turk, however, continued to 
declare that it was as he had said. He went as a guide, and 
thus the army started off from here. 

Chapter 19 

Of how they started in search of Quivira and of what happened 

on the way. 

The army started from Cicuye, leaving the village at peace 
and, as it seemed, contented, and under obligations to main- 
tain the friendship because their governor and captain had 
been restored to them. Proceeding toward the plains, which are 
all on the other side of the mountains, after four days' journey 
they came to a river with a large, deep current, which flowed 
from toward Cicuye, and they named this the Cicuye river. 
They had to stop here to make a bridge so as to cross it. 3 It 

1 In his letter to the King, dated Tiguex, October 20, 1541, Coronado says 
that he started April 23. See Winship's translation in Fourteenth Report 
of the Bureau of Ethnology (1896), p. 580. 

2 Cicuye is Pecos, as above mentioned. The direction is north of east and 
the distance forty miles in an air line, or fifteen Spanish judicial leagues. 
By rail, which follows almost exactly the old trail, the distance is sixty-five 
miles, or almost precisely twenty-five leagues. 

3 The Rio Pecos. The bridge was doubtless built across the stream 
somewhere near Puerto de Luna. The Ms. here reads Cicuye for Cicuye. 



330 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1541 

was finished in four days, by much diligence and rapid work, 
and as soon as it was done the whole army and the animals 
crossed. After ten days more they came to some settlements 
of people who lived like Arabs and who are called Querechos * 
in that region. They had seen the cows 2 for two days. These 
folks live in tents made of the tanned skins of the cows. They 
travel around near the cows, killing them for food. They did 
nothing unusual when they saw our army, except to come out 
of their tents to look at us, after which they came to talk 
with the advance guard, and asked who we were. The gen- 
eral talked with them, but as they had already talked with 
the Turk, who was with the advance guard, they agreed with 
what he had said. That they were very intelligent is evident 
from the fact that although they conversed by means of signs 
they made themselves understood so well that there was no 
need of an interpreter. 3 They said that there was a very large 
river over toward where the sun came from, and that one 
could go along this river through an inhabited region for ninety 
days without a break from settlement to settlement. They 
said that the first of these settlements was called Haxa, 4 
and that the river was more than a league wide and that there 
were many canoes on it. 5 These folks started off from here 
next day with a lot of dogs which dragged their possessions. 
For two days, during which the army inarched in the same 
direction as that in which they had come from the settlements 

— that is, between north and east, but more toward the north 

— they saw other roaming Querechos and such great num- 
bers of cows that it already seemed something incredible. 

1 The name by which the eastern Apaches, or Apaches Vaqueros of later 
times, were known to the Pecos Indians. The first Querechos were met 
near the eastern boundary of New Mexico. 

2 Wherever "cows" are mentioned, bison are of course meant. Herds 
of these animals ranged as far as the Pecos, which was known as the Rio 
de las Vacas later in the century. 

3 All the Indians of the great plains were expert in the sign language, as 
their spoken languages were many and diverse. 

4 The place has not been identified with certainty. 

6 This river, if it existed at all, was in all probability the lower Arkan- 
sas or the Mississippi, hundreds of miles away. 



1541] EXPEDITION OF COBONADO 331 

These people gave a great deal of information about set- 
tlements, all toward the east from where we were. Here Don 
Garcia broke his arm and a Spaniard got lost who went off 
hunting so far that he was unable to return to the camp, be- 
cause the country is very level. The Turk said it was one or 
two days to Haya (Haxa). 1 The general sent Captain Diego 
Lopez with ten companions lightly equipped and a guide to 
go at full speed toward the sunrise for two days and discover 
Haxa, and then return to meet the army, which set out in the 
same direction next day. They came across so many animals 
that those who were on the advance guard killed a large num- 
ber of bulls. As these fled they trampled one another in their 
haste until they came to a ravine. So many of the animals 
fell into this that they filled it up, and the rest went across on 
top of them. The men who were chasing them on horseback 
fell in among the animals without noticing where they were 
going. Three of the horses that fell in among the cows, all 
saddled and bridled, were lost sight of completely. 

As it seemed to the general that Diego Lopez ought to be 
on his way back, he sent six of his companions to follow up 
the banks of the little river, and as many more down the banks, 
to look for traces of the horses at the trails to and from the 
river. It was impossible to find tracks in this country, be- 
cause the grass straightened up again as soon as it was trodden 
down. They were found by some Indians from the army who 
had gone to look for fruit. These got track of them a good 
league off, and soon came up with them. They followed the 
river down to the camp, and told the general that in the 
twenty leagues they had been over they had seen nothing but 
cows and the sky. There was another native of Quivira with 
the army, a painted Indian named Ysopete. This Indian had 
always declared that the Turk was lying, and on account of 

1 The Turk was evidently lying, at least so far as the distance was con- 
cerned. The Texas Indians were not canoeists. The army was now in the 
western part of the staked plains of Texas, but had changed its course from 
northeasterly to south of east. The country is greatly broken by the canons 
of the streams which take their rise in these parts. 



332 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1541 

this the army paid no attention to him, and even now, al- 
though he said that the Querechos had consulted with him, 
Ysopete was not believed. 

The general sent Don Rodrigo Maldonado, with his com- 
pany, forward from here. He travelled four days and reached 
a large ravine like those of Colima, in the bottom of which he 
found a large settlement of people. Cabeza de Vaca and 
Dorantes had passed through this place, 1 so that they presented 
Don Rodrigo with a pile of tanned skins and other things, 
and a tent as big as a house, which he directed them to keep 
until the army came up. He sent some of his companions to 
guide the army to that place, so that they should not get lost, 
although he had been making piles of stones and cow-dung 
for the army to follow. This was the way in which the army 
was guided by the advance guard. 

When the general came up with the army and saw the great 
quantity of skins, he thought he would divide them among 
the men, and placed guards so that they could look at them. 
But when the men arrived and saw that the general was send- 
ing some of his companions with orders for the guards to give 
them some of the skins, and that these were going to select 
the best, they were angry because they were not going to be 
divided evenly, and made a rush, and in less than a quarter of 
an hour nothing was left but the empty ground. 

The natives who happened to see this also took a hand in 
it. The women and some others were left crying, because 
they thought that the strangers were not going to take any- 
thing, but would bless them as Cabeza de Vaca and Dorantes 
had done when they passed through here. They found an 
Indian girl here who was as white as a Castilian lady, 2 except 
that she had her chin painted like a Moorish woman. In 
general they all paint themselves in this way here, and they 
decorate their eyes. 

1 See Cabeza de Vaca's narration in this volume, p. 97. 

2 Probably an albino is here referred to. 



1541] EXPEDITION OF CORONADO 333 

Chapter 20 

Of how great stones fell in the camp, and how they discovered 
another ravine, where the army was divided into two 
parts. 

While the army was resting in this ravine, as we have 
related, a tempest came up one afternoon with a very high 
wind and hail, and in a very short space of time a great quan- 
tity of hailstones, as big as bowls, or bigger, fell as thick as 
raindrops, so that in places they covered the ground two or 
three spans or more deep. And one hit the horse — or I 
should say, there was not a horse that did not break away, 
except two or three which the negroes protected by holding 
large sea nets over them, with the helmets and shields which 
all the rest wore ; and some of them dashed up on to the sides 
of the ravine so that they got them down with great difficulty. 
If this had struck them while they were upon the plain, the 
army would have been in great danger of being left without 
its horses, as there were many which they were not able to 
cover. The hail broke many tents, and battered many hel- 
mets, and wounded many of the horses, and broke all the 
crockery of the army, and the gourds, which was no small 
loss, because they do not have any crockery in this region. 
They do not make gourds, nor sow corn, nor eat bread, but 
instead raw meat — or only half cooked — and fruit. 1 

From here the general sent out to explore the country, 
and they found another settlement four days from there 2 . . . . 
The country was well inhabited, and they had plenty of kid- 
ney beans and prunes like those of Castile, and tall vineyards. 
These village settlements extended for three days. This was 
called Cona. Some Teyas, 3 as these people are called, went with 

1 Castaneda here refers to the buffalo-hunting Indians in contrast to 
the Pueblo tribes which the Spaniards had left. 

2 "A manera de alixares." The margin reads Alexeres, a word meaning 
"threshing floor." 

3 These were evidently the Indians later called Tejas, or Texas, from which 
the state took its name. The name was indiscriminately applied by various 
later writers, but always to one of the Caddoan tribes or group of tribes. 



334 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1541 

the army from here and travelled as far as the end of the other 
settlements with their packs of dogs and women and children, 
and then they gave them guides to proceed to a large ravine 
where the army was. They did not let these guides speak with 
the Turk, and did not receive the same statements from these 
as they had from the others. These said that Quivira was 
toward the north, and that we should not find any good road 
thither. After this they began to believe Ysopete. The ra- 
vine which the army had now reached was a league wide from 
one side to the other, with a little bit of a river at the bottom, 
and there were many groves of mulberry trees near it, and 
rosebushes with the same sort of fruit that they have in France. 
They made verjuice from the unripe grapes at this ravine, 
although there were ripe ones. There were walnuts and the 
same kind of fowls as in New Spain, and large quantities of 
prunes like those of Castile. During this journey a Teya was 
seen to shoot a bull right through both shoulders with an 
arrow, which would be a good shot for a musket. These peo- 
ple are very intelligent; the women are well made and mod- 
est. They cover their whole body. They wear shoes and 
buskins made of tanned skin. The women wear cloaks over 
their small under petticoats, with sleeves gathered up at the 
shoulders, all of skin, and some wore something like little san- 
benitos 1 with a fringe, which reached half-way down the thigh 
over the petticoat. 

The army rested several days in this ravine and explored 
the country. Up to this point they had made thirty-seven 
days' marches, travelling six or seven leagues a day. 2 It had 
been the duty of one man to measure and count his steps. 

1 " We were brought into the Church, every one with a S. Benito upon his 
backe, which is a halfe a yard of yellow cloth, with a hole to put in a mans 
head in the middest, and cast over a mans head : both flaps hang one before, 
and another behinde, and in the middest of every flap, a S. Andrewes crosse, 
made of red cloth, sowed on upon the same, and that is called S. Benito." — 
Robert Tomson, "Voyage into Nova Hispania," 1555, in Hakluyt, Voyages, 
IX. 348 (1904). 

2 The league is equivalent to 2.63 English miles. This Spanish judicial 
league is still used in Mexico. 



1541] EXPEDITION OF COEONADO 335 

They found that it was 250 leagues to the settlements. 1 When 
the general Francisco Vazquez realized this, and saw that 
they had been deceived by the Turk heretofore, and as the 
provisions were giving out and there was no country around 
here where they could procure more, he called the captains 
and ensigns together to decide on what they thought ought 
to be done. They all agreed that the general should go in 
search of Quivira with thirty horsemen and half a dozen foot- 
soldiers, and that Don Tristan de Arellano should go back to 
Tiguex with all the army. When the men in the army learned 
of this decision, they begged their general not to leave them 
to conduct the further search, but declared that they all 
wanted to die with him and did not want to go back. This 
did not do any good, although the general agreed to send 
messengers to them within eight days saying whether it was 
best for them to follow him or not, and with this he set off 
with the guides he had and with Ysopete. The Turk was 
taken along in chains. 

Chapter 21 

Of how the army returned to Tiguex and the general reached 

Quivira. 

The general started from the ravine with the guides that 
the Teyas had given him. He appointed the alderman Diego 
Lopez his army-master, and took with him the men who 
seemed to him to be most efficient, and the best horses. The 
army still had some hope that the general would send for 
them, and sent two horsemen, lightly equipped and riding 
post, to repeat their petition. 

The general arrived — I mean, the guides ran away dur- 
ing the first few days and Diego Lopez had to return to the 
army for guides, bringing orders for the army to return to 
Tiguex to find food and wait there for the general. The Teyas, 
as before, willingly furnished him with new guides. The army 

1 The Tiguex villages on the Rio Grande are often referred to as the region 
where the settlements were. 



336 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1541 

waited for its messengers and spent a fortnight here, preparing 
jerked beef to take with them. It was estimated that during 
this fortnight they killed 500 bulls. The number of these 
that were there without any cows was something incredible. 
Many fellows were lost at this time who went out hunting and 
did not get back to the army for two or three days, wandering 
about the country as if they were crazy, in one direction or 
another, not knowing how to get back where they started 
from, although this ravine extended in either direction so that 
they could find it. Every night they took account of who 
was missing, fired guns and blew trumpets and beat drums 
and built great fires, but yet some of them went off so far and 
wandered about so much that all this did not give them any 
help, although it helped others. The only way was to go back 
where they had killed an animal and start from there in one 
direction and another until they struck the ravine or fell in 
with somebody who could put them on the right road. It is 
worth noting that the country there is so level that at midday, 
after one has wandered about in one direction and another in 
pursuit of game, the only thing to do is to stay near the game 
quietly until sunset, so as to see where it goes down, and even 
then they have to be men who are practised to do it. Those 
who are not, had to trust themselves to others. 1 

The general followed his guides until he reached Quivira, 
which took forty-eight days' marching, on account of the great 
detour they had made toward Florida. 2 He was received 
peacefully on account of the guides whom he had. They 
asked the Turk why he had lied and had guided them so far 
out of their way. He said that his country was in that direc- 
tion and that, besides this, the people at Cicuye had asked 
him to lead them off on to the plains and lose them, so that 
the horses would die when their provisions gave out, and they 

1 The point of separation of the army was in all probability the upper 
waters of the Rio Colorado in Texas. See the narration of Cabeza de Vaca, 
p. 97, note 2. 

2 That is, toward the southeast. At a somewhat later period Florida 
included everything from the peninsula northward. 



1541] EXPEDITION OF CORONADO 337 

would be so weak if they ever returned that they could be 
killed without any trouble, and thus they could take revenge 
for what had been done to them. This was the reason why 
he had led them astray, supposing that they did not know how 
to hunt or to live without corn, while as for the gold, he did 
not know where there was any of it. He said this like one 
who had given up hope and who found that he was being per- 
secuted, since they had begun to believe Ysopete, who had 
guided them better than he had, and fearing lest those who 
were there might give some advice by which some harm would 
come to him. They garroted him, which pleased Ysopete 
very much, because he had always said that Ysopete was a 
rascal and that he did not know what he was talking about 
and had always hindered his talking with anybody. Neither 
gold nor silver nor any trace of either was found among these 
people. Their lord wore a copper plate on his neck and prized 
it highly. 1 

1 For additional details respecting the route pursued by Coronado after 
the main army was sent back, consult the narrative of Jaramillo, the Relacion 
del Suceso, and other documents pertaining to the expedition, in Winship's 
Coronado Expedition (1896) and Journey of Coronado (1904), and in connec- 
tion therewith a discussion of the route by F. W. Hodge, in J. V. Brower's 
Memoirs of Explorations in the Basin of the Mississippi, II. (St. Paul, 1899). 
Continuing due north from the upper waters of the Rio Colorado of Texas, 
Coronado 's immediate force in thirty days' march, according to the Relacion 
del Suceso (or "more than thirty days' march, although not long marches," 
according to Jaramillo), reached the river of St. Peter and St. Paul the last 
of June, 1541. This was the "river of Quivira " of the Relacion del Suceso, 
the present Arkansas River in Kansas, which was crossed at its southern 
bend, just east of the present Dodge City. The party continued thence 
northeast, downstream, and in thirty leagues, or six or seven days' march, 
reached the first of the Quivira settlements. This was at or near the present 
Great Bend, Kansas, before reaching the site of which the Turk was " made 
an example of." That the inhabitants of Quivira were the Wichita Indians 
there can be no reasonable doubt. The Quivira people lived in grass or 
straw lodges, according to the Spaniards, a fact that was true of the 
Wichitas only of all the northern plains tribes. The habitations of their 
congeners and northern neighbors, the Pawnee (who may be regarded as 
the inhabitants of the province of Harahey) , were earth lodges. The word 
acochis, mentioned by Castaneda as the Quivira term for "gold," is merely 
the Spanish adaptation of hakwichis, which signifies "metal," for of gold 
our Indians knew nothing until after the advent of the white man. After 



338 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1541 

The messengers whom the army had sent to the general 
returned, as I said, and then, as they brought no news except 
what the alderman had delivered, the army left the ravine 
and returned to the Teyas, where they took guides who led 
them back by a more direct road. They readily furnished 
these, because these people are always roaming over this coun- 
try in pursuit of the animals and so know it thoroughly. 
They keep their road in this way : In the morning they notice 
where the sun rises and observe the direction they are going 
to take, and then shoot an arrow in this direction. Before 
reaching this they shoot another over it, and in this way they 
go all day toward the water where they are to end the day. In 
this way they covered in twenty-five days what had taken them 
thirty-seven days going, besides stopping to hunt cows on the 
way. They found many salt lakes on this road, and there was 
a great quantity of salt. There were thick pieces of it on top 
of the water bigger than tables, as thick as four or five fingers. 
Two or three spans down under water there was salt which 
tasted better than that in the floating pieces, because this was 
rather bitter. It was crystalline. All over these plains there 
were large numbers of animals like squirrels x and a great num- 
ber of their holes. On its return the army reached the Cicuye 
river more than thirty leagues below there — I mean below 
the bridge they had made when they crossed it, and they 
followed it up to that place. 2 In general, its banks are cov- 
ered with a sort of rose bushes, the fruit of which tastes like 
muscatel grapes. They grow on little twigs about as high up 
as a man. It has the parsley leaf. There were unripe grapes 
and currants (?) and wild marjoram. The guides said this 
river joined that of Tiguex more than twenty days from here, 

exploring Quivira for twenty-five leagues, Coronado sent " captains and men 
in many directions," but they failed to find that of which they went in 
search. There is no reason to suppose that Coronado 's party went beyond 
the limits of the present state of Kansas. 
i*S x Prairie-dogs. 

2 This would make the point at which the army reached Pecos River about 
eighty miles below Puerto de Luna, or not far from the present town of 
Roswell. 



1541] EXPEDITION OF CORONADO 339 

and that its course turned toward the east. It is believed that 
it flows into the mighty river of the Holy Spirit (Espiritu 
Santo), which the men with Don Hernando de Soto discovered 
in Florida. 1 A painted Indian woman ran away from Juan 
de Saldibar and hid in the ravines about this time, because 
she recognized the country of Tiguex where she had been a 
slave. She fell into the hands of some Spaniards who had 
entered the country from Florida to explore it in this direc- 
tion. 2 After I got back to New Spain I heard them say that 
the Indian told them that she had run away from other men 
like them nine days, and that she gave the names of some 
captains; from which we ought to believe that we were not 
far from the region they discovered, although they said they 
were more than 200 leagues inland. I believe the land at 
that point is more than 600 leagues across from sea to sea. 
As I said, the army followed the river up as far as Cicuye, 
which it found ready for war and unwilling to make any ad- 
vances toward peace or to give any food to the army. From 
there they went on to Tiguex where several villages had been 
reinhabited, but the people were afraid and left them again. 

Chapter 22 

Of how the general returned from Quivira and of other expedi- 
tions toward the North. 

After Don Tristan de Arellano reached Tiguex, about the 
middle of July, in the year 7 42, 3 he had provisions collected 
for the coming winter. Captain Francisco de Barrionuevo 
was sent up the river toward the north with several men. He 
saw two provinces, one of which was called Hemes 4 and had 

1 Castaneda is writing about twenty years later. De Soto's army was 
exploring the eastern country as Coronado was traversing the buffalo 
plains. The Espiritu Santo is the Mississippi. 

2 See the Gentleman of Elvas in the second part of the present volume. 

3 As usual Castaneda gives a date a year later than the actual one. 

4 The pueblos occupied by the Jemez people. Only one of these now ex- 
ists ; this is on the Rio Jemez, a western tributary of the Rio Grande, which 
enters the latter stream above Bernalillo, New Mexico. See p. 359, note 2. 



340 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1541 

seven villages, and the other Yuqueyunque. 1 The inhabitants 
of Hemes came out peaceably and furnished provisions. At 
Yuqueyunque the whole nation left two very fine villages 
which they had on either side of the river entirely vacant, and 
went into the mountains, where they had four very strong vil- 
lages in a rough countiy, where it was impossible for horses to 
go. 2 In the two villages there was a great deal of food and some 
very beautiful glazed earthenware with many figures and dif- 
ferent shapes. 3 Here they also found many bowls full of a 
carefully selected shining metal with which they glazed the 
earthenware. This shows that mines of silver would be found 
in that country if they should hunt for them. 

There was a large and powerful river, I mean village, which 
was called Braba, twenty leagues farther up the river, which 
our men called Valladolid. 4 The river flowed through the 
middle of it. The natives crossed it by wooden bridges, made 

1 This was Yukiwingge, on the site of the present small village of Chamita, 
at the mouth of the Rio Chama, opposite San Juan pueblo. The other one 
of the two villages was doubtless San Juan. Both of these were occupied 
by Tewa Indians. At Yukiwingge was established, in 1598, by Juan de 
Onate, the colonizer of New Mexico, the settlement of San Gabriel de los 
Espafioles, which was occupied until the spring of 1605, when the seat of the 
provincial government was moved to Santa Fe, founded for the purpose in 
that year. See p. 359, note 4. 

2 These may have been the pueblos, now in ruins, in and north of the 
Pajarito Park, one of which, called Puye, gives evidence of occupancy in 
post-Spanish times. 

3 It is not known definitely whether actually glazed pottery or merely 
the black, highly polished earthenware characteristic of the Tewa Indians of 
the neighborhood is here meant. The ancient Pueblos manufactured a ware 
with decoration in what appears to be a salt glaze. Specimens of this have 
been gathered in the Pajarito Park, at Zuni, among the Hopi of Arizona, and 
from ancient ruins around Acoma, but the art seems to have been lost. 
There is abundant evidence that this form of decoration was prehistoric. 
The finding of the "shining metal" (called antimony in Pt. 2, chap. 4) 
would seem to indicate that the polished rather than the glazed ware was 
here meant. 

4 This was the pueblo of Taos, which stood near the site of the present 
village of the same name, on both sides of the little stream (Taos River). 
The present Taos has 425 inhabitants. The swift and deep river without 
the ford, here referred to, must have been the Rio Grande in the neighbor- 
hood of Taos, rather than the Rio de Taos, which is insignificant except in 
seasons of freshet. Castafieda was evidently not one of Barrionuevo's party. 



1541] EXPEDITION OF COKONADO 341 

of very long, large, squared pines. At this village they saw 
the largest and finest hot rooms or estufas that there were in 
the entire country, for they had a dozen pillars, each one of 
which was twice as large around as one could reach and twice 
as tall as a man. Hernando de Alvarado visited this village 
when he discovered Cicuye. The country is very high and 
very cold. 1 The river is deep and very swift, without any ford. 
Captain Barrionuevo returned from here, leaving the province 
at peace. 

Another captain went down the river in search of the set- 
tlements which the people at Tutahaco had said were several 
days distant from there. This captain went down eighty 
leagues and found four large villages which he left at peace. 2 
He proceeded until he found that the river sank into the earth, 
like the Guadiana in Estremadura. 3 He did not go on to where 
the Indians said that it came out much larger, because his 
commission did not extend for more than eighty leagues 7 march. 
After this captain got back, as the time had arrived which the 
captain had set for his return from Quivira, and as he had not 
come back, Don Tristan selected forty companions and, leav- 
ing the army to Francisco de Barrionuevo, he started with them 
in search of the general. When he reached Cicuye the people 
came out of the village to fight, which detained him there four 
days, while he punished them, which he did by firing some 
volleys into the village. These killed several men, so that 
they did not come out against the army, since two of their 
principal men had been killed on the first day. Just then 
word was brought that the general was coming, and so Don 

1 The altitude of Taos is 6983 feet ; of Taos Peak, 13,145 feet. 

2 Seemingly the Piros villages on the Rio Grande south of Isleta. They 
are now extinct, having been finally abandoned during the revolt in 1680, 
the inhabitants fleeing with Governor Otermin to El Paso. Senecu and So- 
corro (taking their names from former villages) were afterward established 
below El Paso, where the few survivors of the Piros, almost entirely Mexican- 
ized, still reside. 

3 This rendering, doubtless correct, is due to Ternaux. The Guadiana, 
however, reappears above ground some time before it begins to mark the 
boundary of the Spanish province of Estremadura. The Castaneda family 
had its seat in quite the other end of the peninsula. (Winship.) 



342 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1541 

Tristan had to stay there on this account also, to keep the 
road open. Everybody welcomed the general on his arrival, 
with great joy. The Indian Xabe, who was the young fellow 
who had been given to the general at Cicuye when he started 
off in search of Quivira, was with Don Tristan de Arellano and 
when he learned that the general was coming he acted as if 
he was greatly pleased, and said, "Now when the general 
comes, you will see that there are gold and silver in Quivira, 
although not so much as the Turk said." When the general 
arrived, and Xabe saw that they had not found anything, he 
was sad and silent, and kept declaring that there was some. 
He made many believe that it was so, because the general had 
not dared to enter into the country on account of its being 
thickly settled and his force not very strong, and that he had 
returned to lead his army there after the rains, because it had 
foegun to rain there already, as it was early in August when he 
left. It took him forty days to return, travelling lightly 
equipped. The Turk had said when they left Tiguex that 
they ought not to load the horses with too much provisions, 
which would tire them so that they could not afterward carry 
the gold and silver, from which it is very evident that he 
was deceiving them. 

The general reached Cicuye with his force and at once set 
off for Tiguex, leaving the village more quiet, for they had 
met him peaceably and had talked with him. When he reached 
Tiguex, he made his plans to pass the winter there, so as to 
return with the whole army, because it was said that he 
brought information regarding large settlements and very 
large rivers, and that the country was very much like that of 
Spain in the fruits and vegetation and seasons. They were 
not ready to believe that there was no gold there, but instead 
had suspicions that there was some farther back in the coun- 
try, because, although this was denied, they knew what the 
thing was and had a name for it among themselves — acochis. 1 
With this we end this first part, and now we will give an ac- 
count of the provinces. 

1 See p. 337, note 1. 



1541] EXPEDITION OF CORONADO 343 



SECOND PART 

Which treats of the high villages and provinces and of their 
habits and customs, as collected by Pedro de Castaneda, 
native of the city of Najara. 

Laus Deo 

It does not seem to me that the reader will be satisfied with 
having seen and understood what I have already related about 
the expedition, although that has made it easy to see the dif- 
ference between the report which told about vast treasures, 
and the places where nothing like this was either found or 
known. It is to be noted that in place of settlements great 
deserts were found, and instead of populous cities villages of 
200 inhabitants and only 800 or 1000 people in the largest. 
I do not know whether this will furnish grounds for pondering 
and considering the uncertainty of this life. To please these, 
I wish to give a detailed account of all the inhabited region 
seen and discovered by this expedition, and some of their 
ceremonies and habits, in accordance with what we came to 
know about them, and the limits within which each province 
falls, so that hereafter it may be possible to understand in 
what direction Florida lies and in what direction Greater India ; 
and this land of New Spain is part of the mainland with Peru, 
and with greater India or China as well, there not being any 
strait between to separate them. On the other hand, the 
country is so wide that there is room for these vast deserts 
which lie between the two seas, for the coast of the North 
sea beyond Florida stretches toward the Bacallaos 1 and then 
turns toward Norway, while that of the South sea turns toward 
the west, making another bend down toward the south almost 
like a bow and stretches away toward India, leaving room for 
the lands that border on the mountains on both sides to stretch 
out in such a way as to have between them these great plains 
which are full of cattle and many other animals of different 

1 The Newfoundland region. 



344 SPANISH EXPLOEEES [1541 

sorts, since they are not inhabited, as I will relate farther on. 
There is every sort of game and fowl there, but no snakes, for 
they are free from these. I will leave the account of the 
return of the army to New Spain until I have shown what 
slight occasion there was for this. We will begin our account 
with the city of Culiacan, and point out the differences be- 
tween the one country and the other, on account of which one 
ought to be settled by Spaniards and the other not. It should 
be the reverse, however, with Christians, since there are intelli- 
gent men in one, and in the other wild animals and worse than 
beasts. 

Chapter 1 

Of the province of Culiacan and of its habits and customs. 

Culiacan is the last place in the New Kingdom of Galicia, 
and was the first settlement made by Nuno de Guzman when 
he conquered this kingdom. 1 It is 210 leagues west of Mexico. 2 
In this province there are three chief languages, besides other 
related dialects. The first is that of the Tahus, who are the 
best and most intelligent race. They are now the most set- 
tled and have received the most light from the faith. They 
worship idols and make presents to the devil of their goods 
and riches, consisting of cloth and turquoises. They do not 
eat human flesh nor sacrifice it. They are accustomed to 
keep very large snakes, which they venerate. Among them 
there are men dressed like women who marry other men and 
serve as their wives. At a great festival they consecrate the 
women who wish to live unmarried, with much singing and 
dancing, at which all the chiefs of the locality gather and 
dance naked, and after all have danced with her they put her 
in a hut that has been decorated for this event and the chiefs 

1 See p. 285, note 1. 

2 Castafieda, like many other early Spanish chroniclers, is careless in his 
directions. It will be observed that he frequently says west, east, etc., when 
he means westwardly, eastwardly. This has led one writer on the Coro- 
nado expedition seriously astray. Culiacan is decidedly northwest of Mexico 
City. 



1541] EXPEDITION OF COBONADO 345 

adorn her with clothes and bracelets of fine turquoises, and 
then the chiefs go in one by one to lie with her, and all the 
others who wish, follow them. From this time on these 
women can not refuse anyone who pays them a certain amount 
agreed on for this. Even if they take husbands, this does not 
exempt them from obliging anyone who pays them. The 
greatest festivals are on market days. The custom is for the 
husbands to buy the women whom they marry, of their 
fathers and relatives at a, high price, and then to take them to 
a chief, who is considered to be a priest, to deflower them and 
see if she is a virgin; and if she is not, they have to return 
the whole price, and he can keep her for his wife or not, or let 
her be consecrated, as he chooses. At these times they all 
get drunk. 

The second language is that of the Pacaxes, the people 
who live in the country between the plains and the mountains. 
These people are more barbarous. Some of them who live 
near the mountains eat human flesh. They are great sodom- 
ites, and have many wives, even when these are sisters. They 
worship painted and sculptured stones, and are much given 
to witchcraft and sorcery. 

The third language is that of the Acaxes, who are in pos- 
session of a large part of the hilly country and all of the moun- 
tains. They go hunting for men just as they hunt animals. 
They all eat human flesh, and he who has the most human 
bones and skulls hung up around his house is most feared and 
respected. They live in settlements and in very rough coun- 
try, avoiding the plains. In passing from one settlement to 
another, there is always a ravine in the way which they can 
not cross, although they can talk together across it. At the 
slightest call 500 men collect, and on any pretext kill and eat 
one another. Thus it has been very hard to subdue these 
people, on account of the roughness of the country, which is 
very great. 

Many rich silver mines have been found in this country. 
They do not run deep, but soon give out. The gulf of the sea x 
1 The Gulf of California. 



346 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1541 

begins on the coast of this province, entering the land 250 
leagues toward the north and ending at the mouth of the Fire- 
brand (Tizon) River. This country forms its eastern limit, 
and California x the western. From what I have been told by 
men who had navigated it, it is thirty leagues across from 
point to point, because they lose sight of this country when 
they see the other. They say the gulf is over 150 leagues 
broad (or deep), from shore to shore. The coast makes a turn 
toward the south at the Firebrand River, bending down to 
California, which turns toward the west, forming that penin- 
sula which was formerly held to be an island, because it was 
a low sandy country. It is inhabited by brutish, bestial, 
naked people who eat their own offal. The men and women 
couple like animals, the female openly getting down on all 
fours. 2 

Chapter 2 

Of the province of Petlatlan and all the inhabited country as far 

as Chichilticalli. 

Petlatlan is a settlement of houses covered with a sort 
of mats made of plants. These are collected into villages, 
extending along a river from the mountains to the sea. 3 The 
people are of the same race and habits as the Culuacanian 
Tahues. There is much sodomy among them. In the moun- 
tain district there is a large population and more settlements. 
These people have a somewhat different language from the 
Tahues, although they understand each other. It is called 
Petlatlan because the houses are made of petates or palm- 
leaf mats. Houses of this sort are found for more than 240 
leagues in this region, to the beginning of the Cibola wilder- 

1 Lower California is of course meant. 

2 For an account of the Indians of Lower California in the eighteenth cen- 
tury, see the translation of Father Jacob Baegert's narrative, by Charles 
Rau, in the Report of the Smithsonian Institution for 1863 and 1864. 

3 The Rio Petlatlan is the present Rio Sinaloa. The name Sinaloa is 
synonymous in application with Cahita, a group of tribes including the present 
Yaqui and Mayo. 



1541] EXPEDITION OF CORONADO 347 

ness. 1 The nature of the country changes here very greatly , 
because from this point on there are no trees except the pine, 
nor are there any fruits except a few tunas, 2 mesquites, and 
pitahayas. 3 

Petlatlan is twenty leagues from Culiacan, and it is 130 
leagues from here to the valley of Senora. There are many 
rivers between the two, with settlements of the same sort of 
people — for example, Sinoloa, Boyomo, Teocomo, Yaquimi, 
and other smaller ones. There is also the Corazones (Hearts), 
which is in our possession, down the valley of Senora. 4 

Senora is a river and valley thickly settled by able-bodied 
people. The women wear petticoats of tanned deerskin, and 
little san benitos reaching half way down the body. 5 The 
chiefs of the villages go up on some little heights they have 
made for this purpose, like public criers, and there make proc- 
lamations for the space of an hour, regulating those things 
they have to attend to. They have some little huts for shrines, 
all over the outside of which they stick many arrows, like a 
hedgehog. They do this when they are eager for war. All 
about this province toward the mountains there is a large 
population in separate little provinces containing ten or twelve 
villages. Seven or eight of them, of which I know the names, 
are Comupatrico, Mochilagua, Arispa, 6 and the Little Valley. 
There are others which we did not see. 

It is forty leagues from Senora to the valley of Suva. 7 The 
town of San Hieronimo was established in this valley, where 
there was a rebellion later, and part of the people who had 
settled there were killed, as will be seen in the third part. 
There are many villages in the neighborhood of this valley. 
The people are the same as those in Senora and have the same 

1 That is, as far northward as the Rio Gila. 

2 The fruit of the prickly-pear cactus. 

3 The giant cactus. See p. 305, note 1. 

4 Sonora. See p. 301, notes 1 and 2. 
6 See p. 334, note 1. 

6 This was Arizpe, on the upper waters of the Rio Sonora. Jaramillo 
calls it Ispa. 

7 See p. 326, note 2. 



348 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1541 

dress and language, habits, and customs, like all the rest as 
far as the desert of Chichilticalli. The women paint their 
chins and eyes like the Moorish women of Barbary. They are 
great sodomites. 1 They drink wine made of the pitahaya, 
which is the fruit of a great thistle which opens like the pome- 
granate. The wine makes them stupid. They make a great 
quantity of preserves from the tuna; they preserve it in a 
large amount of its sap without other honey. They make 
bread of the mesquite, like cheese, which keeps good for a 
whole year. There are native melons in this country so large 
that a person can carry only one of them. They cut these 
into slices and dry them in the sun. They are good to eat, 
and taste like figs, and are better than dried meat ; they are 
very good and sweet, keeping for a whole year when prepared 
in this way. 2 

In this country there were also tame eagles, which the 
chiefs esteemed to be something fine. 3 No fowls of any sort 
were seen in any of these villages except in this valley of Suya, 
where fowls like those of Castile were found. Nobody could 
find out how they came to be so far inland, the people being 
all at war with one another. Between Suya and Chichil- 
ticalli there are many sheep and mountain goats with very 
large bodies and horns. Some Spaniards declare that they 
have seen flocks of more than a hundred together, which ran 
so fast that they disappeared very quickly. 

At Chichilticalli the country changes its character again 
and the spiky vegetation ceases. The reason is that the gulf 
reaches as far up as this place, and the mountain chain changes 
its direction at the same time that the coast does. Here they 

1 These are, from the south northward, the Pimas Bajos or Nevome, 
Opatas, Papagos, and Pimas. The older Pima women still paint their faces 
in fine lines and also are tattooed, but the custom is becoming a thing of the 
past. The Opatas are almost entirely Mexicanized. 

2 These were doubtless cantaloupes. The southwestern Indians still slice 
and dry them in a manner similar to that here described. 

3 The Pueblo Indians, particularly the Zufii and the Hopi, keep eagles 
for their feathers, which are highly prized because regarded as sacred and 
are much used in their ceremonies. 



1541] EXPEDITION OF CORONADO 349 

had to cross and pass through the mountains in order to get 
into the level country. 1 

Chapter 3 

Of Chichilticalli and the desert, of Cibola, its customs and habits, 
and of other things. 

Chichilticalli is so called because the friars found a house 
at this place which was formerly inhabited by people who 
separated from Cibola. It was made of colored or reddish 
earth. 2 The house was large and appeared to have been a 
fortress. It must have been destroyed by the people of the 
district, who are the most barbarous people that have yet 
been seen. They live in separate cabins and not in settle- 
ments. 3 They live by hunting. The rest of the country is all 
wilderness, covered with pine forests. There are great quan- 
tities of the pine nuts. The pines are two or three times as 
high as a man before they send out branches. There is a sort 
of oak with sweet acorns, of which they make cakes like sugar 
plums with dried coriander seeds. It is very sweet, like sugar. 
Watercress grows in many springs, and there are rosebushes, 
and pennyroyal, and wild marjoram. 

There are barbels and picones, 4 like those of Spain, in the 
rivers of this wilderness. 5 Gray lions and leopards were seen. 6 

1 Probably Dragoon Pass, through the Dragoon and Galiuro Mountains 
of southeastern Arizona, thence between the Pinaleno and Chiricahua 
mountains to the plains of San Simon. 

2 This ruin is supposed to have been in the vicinity of the present Solomons- 
ville, Graham County. The name is Aztec (chichiltic" red," colli "house"). 
Writers have endeavored to identify it with the celebrated Casa Grande 
farther to the northwest, but this is inconsistent with the directions recorded in 
the narratives, and all students of the subject have now abandoned this theory. 

3 These people are not identifiable with certainty. If the Apaches of 
Arizona, it is the only mention of them and is contrary to all other testimony. 
The Sobaipuris lived on the upper Rio San Pedro and on the Gila near the 
mouth of the former stream, until the latter part of the eighteenth century. 

4 Picones are catfish. 

5 The "wilderness," or uninhabited region, extended from the Gila in 
central Graham County to the crossing of the New Mexico boundary by 
Zuni River, where Cibola began. 

6 These are the mountain Hon and the wildcat. 



350 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1541 

The country rises continually from the beginning of the wil- 
derness until Cibola is reached, which is eighty leagues, going 
north. From Culiacan to the edge of the wilderness the route 
had kept the north on the left hand. 

Cibola x is seven villages. The largest is called Macaque. 2 
The houses are ordinarily three or four stories high, but in 
Magaque there are houses with four and seven stories. These 
people are very intelligent. They cover their privy parts 
and all the immodest parts with cloths made like a sort of 
table napkin, with fringed edges and a tassel at each corner, 
which they tie over the hips. They wear long robes of feath- 
ers and of the skins of hares, and cotton blankets. The 
women wear blankets, which they tie or knot over the left 
shoulder, leaving the right arm out. 3 These serve to cover the 
body. They wear a neat well-shaped outer garment of skin. 
They gather their hair over the two ears, making a frame 
which looks like an old-fashioned headdress. 4 

The country is a valley between ridges resembling rocky 
mountains. They plant in holes. Maize does not grow high ; 
ears from a stalk three or four to each cane, thick and large, 
of eight hundred grains, a thing not seen in these parts. There 
are large numbers of bears in this province, and lions, wild- 
cats, deer, and otter. There are very fine turquoises, although 
not so many as was reported. 5 They collect the pine nuts 6 
each year, and store them up in advance. A man does not 
have more than one wife. There are estufas or hot rooms 7 

1 See p. 300, note 1. 

2 See p. 315, note 1. 

3 Identical with the dress of the Zufli women of to-day. Rabbit-skin 
robes have been replaced by woollen blankets, like those woven by the 
Navaho, who learned the art from the Pueblos. The rabbit-skin robes are 
now manufactured chiefly by the Paiutes, the Pueblos having almost ceased 
to make them. 

4 This custom has been abandoned except by the Hopi maidens, who still 
wear their hair in picturesque whorls, one on each side of the head, until married. 

5 See p. 308, note 3. This entire description is characteristic of the 
present Zuiii country, except that game is not so abundant. 

6 Pinon nuts, which are still gathered in large quantities. 

7 The kivas, or ceremonial chambers, of which there are usually several in 
each pueblo. It is in these that most of the secret rites are performed. 



1541] EXPEDITION OF CORONADO 351 

in the villages, which are the courtyards or places where they 
gather for consultation. They do not have chiefs as in New 
Spain, but are ruled by a council of the oldest men. They 
have priests who preach to them, whom they call papas. 1 
These are the elders. They go up on the highest roof of the 
village and preach to the village from there, like public criers, 
in the morning while the sun is rising, the whole village being 
silent and sitting in the galleries to listen. 2 They tell them 
how they are to live, and I believe that they give certain 
commandments for them to keep, for there is no drunkenness 
among them nor sodomy nor sacrifices, neither do they eat 
human flesh nor steal, but they are usually at work. The 
estufas belong to the whole village. 3 It is a sacrilege for the 
women to go into the estufas to sleep. They make the cross 
as a sign of peace. They burn their dead, and throw the 
implements used in their work into the fire with the bodies. 4 
It is twenty leagues to Tusayan, 5 going northwest. This is 
a province with seven villages, of the same sort, dress, habits, 
and ceremonies as at Cibola. There may be as many as 3,000 
or 4,000 men in the fourteen villages of these two provinces. 6 
It is forty leagues or more to Tiguex, the road trending toward 
the north. The rock of Acuco, which we described in the 
first part, is between these. 

1 Papa is a true Zufii word, signifying "elder brother," as distinguished 
from su-e, "younger brother." These terms allude both to age and to rank. 

2 All public announcements are still made in this way. 

3 Rather to the religious societies. Some of them belong exclusively to 
the women. 

4 Excavations made at Halona, one of the Seven Cities of Cibola, 
yielded only skeletons that had been interred within the houses, beneath the 
floors. In the Salt River and Gila valleys, southern Arizona, this method was 
also practised, but in addition remains were cremated and deposited in 
earthen vessels in mounds near by. 

5 See p. 307, note 1 ; p. 358, note 3. 

6 This would indicate a population of 10,500 to 14,000, which is doubtless 
an excessive estimate for the sixteenth century. The present population of 
Zufii is 1514 ; of the Hopi villages, about 2000. 



352 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1541 

Chapter 4 

Of how they live at Tiguex, and of the province of Tiguex and its 

neighborhood. 

Tiguex is a province with twelve villages on the banks of 
a large, mighty river ; some villages on one side and some on 
the other. 1 It is a spacious valley two leagues wide, and a very 
high, rough, snow-covered mountain chain lies east of it. 2 
There are seven villages in the ridges at the foot of this — 
four on the plain and three situated on the skirts of the moun- 
tain. 

There are seven villages seven leagues to the north, at 
Quirix, and the seven villages of the province of Hemes are 
forty leagues northeast [northwest]. It is forty leagues north 
or east to Acha, 3 and four leagues southeast 4 to Tutahaco, a 
province with eight villages. In general, these villages all 
have the same habits and customs, although some have some 
things in particular which the others have not. They are 
governed by the opinions of the elders. They all work to- 
gether to build the villages, the women being engaged in mak- 
ing the mixture and the walls, while the men bring the wood 
and put it in place. They have no lime, but they make a 
mixture of ashes, coals, and dirt which is almost as good as 
mortar, for when the house is to have four stories, they do not 
make the walls more than half a yard thick. They gather a 
great pile of twigs of thyme [sagebrush] and sedge grass and 
set it afire, and when it is half coals and ashes they throw a 
quantity of dirt and water on it and mix it all together. 
They make round balls of this, which they use instead of stones 
after they are dry, fixing them with the same mixture, which 

1 The Rio Grande, as previously described. 

2 The Sandia Mountains. 

3 The pueblo of Picuris, about twenty miles south of Taos. This is a 
Tigua village of about 125 inhabitants. 

4 Compare the previous reference to Tutahaco (p. 314). Both the distance 
and the direction here given seem to be erroneous. 



1541] EXPEDITION OF COKONADO 353 

comes to be like a stiff clay. Before they are married the 
young men serve the whole village in general, and fetch the 
wood that is needed for use, putting it in a pile in the court- 
yard of the villages, from which the women take it to carry to 
their houses. 1 

The young men live in the estufas, which are in the yards 
of the village. They are underground, square or round, with 
pine pillars. Some were seen with twelve pillars and with four 
in the centre as large as two men could stretch around. They 
usually had three or four pillars. The floor was made of large, 
smooth stones, like the baths which they have in Europe. 
They have a hearth made like the binnacle or compass box 
of a ship, in which they burn a handful of thyme at a time 
to keep up the heat, and they can stay in there just as in a 
bath. The top was on a level with the ground. Some that 
were seen were large enough for a game of ball. When any 
man wishes to marry, it has to be arranged by those who gov- 
ern. The man has to spin and weave a blanket and place it 
before the woman, who covers herself with it and becomes his 
wife. 2 The houses belong to the women, the estufas to the men. 
If a man repudiates his woman, he has to go to the estufa. 
It is forbidden for women to sleep in the estufas, or to enter 
these for any purpose except to give their husbands or sons 
something to eat. The men spin and weave. The women 
bring up the children and prepare the food. The country is so 
fertile that they do not have to break up the ground the year 
round, but only have to sow the seed, which is presently 
covered by the fall of snow, and the ears come up under the 
snow. In one year they gather enough for seven. A very 
large number of cranes and wild geese and crows and starlings 
live on what is sown, and for all this, when they come to sow 
for another year, the fields are covered with corn which they 
have not been able to finish gathering. 

1 This would indicate the existence of a true communal system that does 
not prevail at the present time. 

2 See Voth, " Oraibi Marriage Customs," American Anthropologist, II. 238 
(1900). 

2a 



354 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1541 

There are a great many native fowl in these provinces, and 
cocks with great hanging chins. 1 When dead, these keep for 
sixty days, and longer in winter, without losing their feathers 
or opening, and without any bad smell, and the same is true 
of dead men. 

The villages are free from nuisances, because they go outside 
to excrete, and they pass their water into clay vessels, which 
they empty at a distance from the village. 2 They keep the 
separate houses where they prepare the food for eating and 
where they grind the meal, very clean. This is a separate 
room or closet, where they have a trough with three stones 
fixed in stiff clay. Three women go in here, each one having a 
stone, with which one of them breaks the corn, the next grinds 
it, and the third grinds it again. 3 They take off their shoes, 
do up their hair, shake their clothes, and cover their heads 
before they enter the door. A man sits at the door playing on 
a fife while they grind, moving the stones to the music and 
singing together. They grind a large quantity at one time, be- 
cause they make all their bread of meal soaked in warm water, 
like wafers. They gather a great quantity of brushwood and 
dry it to use for cooking all through the year. There are no 
fruits good to eat in the country, except the pine nuts. They 
have their preachers. Sodomy is not found among them. 
They do not eat human flesh nor make sacrifices of it. The 
people are not cruel, for they had Francisco de Ovando in 
Tiguex about forty days, after he was dead, and when the vil- 
lage was captured, he was found among their dead, whole and 
without any other wound except the one which killed him, 
white as snow, without any bad smell. I found out several 
things about them from one of our Indians, who had been a 
captive among them for a whole year. I asked him especially 



1 The American turkey cocks. 

2 A custom still common at Zufii and other pueblos. Before the introduc- 
tion of manufactured dyes the Pueblos used urine as a mordant. 

3 See Mindeleff's " Pueblo Architecture," in the Eighth Annual Report of 
the Bureau of Ethnology, p. 208; also Cushing, " Zufii Breadstuff," in The 
Millstone (Indianapolis, 1884-1885). 



1541] EXPEDITION OF CORONADO 355 

for the reason why the young women in that province went 
entirely naked, however cold it might be, and he told me that 
the virgins had to go around this way until they took a hus- 
band, and that they covered themselves after they had known 
man. The men here wear little shirts of tanned deerskin and 
their long robes over this. In all these provinces they have 
earthenware glazed with antimony and jars of extraordinary 
labor and workmanship, which were worth seeing. 1 

Chapter 5 

Of Cicuye and the villages in its neighborhood, and of how some 
people came to conquer this country. 

We have already said that the people of Tiguex and of all 
the provinces on the banks of that river were all alike, having 
the same ways of living and the same customs. It will not be 
necessary to say anything particular about them. I wish 
merely to give an account of Cicuye and some depopulated 
villages which the army saw on the direct road which it fol- 
lowed thither, and of others that were across the snowy moun- 
tains near Tiguex, which also lay in that region above the 
river. 

Cicuye 2 is a village of nearly five hundred warriors, who 

1 A number of memoirs on the pottery of the ancient Pueblos may be 
consulted in the Annual Reports of the Bureau of American Ethnology. 

2 This is Pecos, the largest pueblo of New Mexico in the sixteenth cen- 
tury and for a long time after. Its people belonged to the Tanoan family, 
although their language was understood only by the Jemez villagers, their 
nearest kindred. It was the scene of the missionary labors of Fray Luis 
Descalona, who remained behind when Coronado returned to Mexico in 1542, 
but he was probably killed before the close of that year. Pecos became the 
seat of an important Franciscan mission early in the seventeenth century, 
but it began to decline after the revolt of 1680-1692, and in 1838 the half- 
dozen survivors removed to Jemez, where one of them still (1906) lives. 
Cicuye is the Isleta, or Tigua, name for Pecos, while "Pecos" itself is the 
Keresan, or Queres, appellation, with the Spanish-English plural. The 
ruins of the town are plainly visible from the Santa Fe Railway. See 
Bandelier in Papers of the Archaeological Institute of America, Amer. ser., 
I. (1881) ; Hewett in American Anthropologist, n. s., VI. No. 4, 1904. 



356 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1541 

are feared throughout that country. It is square, situated on 
a rock, with a large court or yard in the middle, containing the 
estufas. The houses are all alike, four stories high. One can 
go over the top of the whole village without there being a street 
to hinder. There are corridors going all around it at the first 
two stories, by which one can go around the whole village. 
These are like outside balconies, and they are able to protect 
themselves under these. The houses do not have doors below, 
but they use ladders, which can be lifted up like a drawbridge, 
and so go up to the corridors which are on the inside of the 
village. As the doors of the houses open on the corridor of that 
story, the corridor serves as a street. The houses that open on 
the plain are right back of those that open on the court, and in 
time of war they go through those behind them. The village 
is enclosed by a low wall of stone. There is a spring of water 
inside, which they are able to divert. 1 The people of this village 
boast that no one has been able to conquer them and that they 
conquer whatever villages they wish. The people and their 
customs are like those of the other villages. Their virgins also 
go nude until they take husbands, because they say that if 
they do anything wrong then it will be seen, and so they do 
not do it. They do not need to be ashamed because they go 
around as they were born. 

There is a village, small and strong, between Cicuye and 
the province of Quirix, which the Spaniards named Ximena, 2 
and another village almost deserted, only one part of which is 
inhabited. 3 This was a large village, and judging from its 
condition and newness it appeared to have been destroyed. 
They called this the village of the granaries (silos), because large 
underground cellars were found here stored with corn. There 
was another large village farther on, entirely destroyed and 



1 The spring was "still trickling out beneath a massive ledge of rocks on 
ibe west sill" when Bandelier (op. cit.) sketched it in 1880. 

2 The former Tanos pueblo of Galisteo, a mile and a half northeast of the 
present town of the same name. 

3 According to Mota Padilla, Historia de la Conquista, 1742 (Mexico, 
1870), this was called Coquite. 



1541] EXPEDITION OF CORONADO 357 

pulled down, in the yards of which there were many stone balls, 
as big as twelve-quart bowls, which seemed to have been thrown 
by engines or catapults, which had destroyed the village. 
All that I was able to find out about them was that, sixteen 
years before, some people called Teyas 1 had come to this coun- 
try in great numbers and had destroyed these villages. They 
had besieged Cicuye but had not been able to capture it, be- 
cause it was strong, and when they left the region, they had 
made peace with the whole country. It seems as if they must 
have been a powerful people, and that they must have had en- 
gines to knock down the villages. The only thing they could 
tell about the direction these people came from was by pointing 
toward the north. They usually call these people Teyas or 
brave men, just as the Mexicans say chichimecas or braves, 2 
for the Teyas whom the army saw were brave. These knew 
the people in the settlements, and were friendly with them, 
and they (the Teyas of the plains) went there to spend the 
winter under the wings of the settlements. The' inhabitants 
do not dare to let them come inside, because they can not trust 
them. Although they are received as friends, and trade with 
them, they do not stay in the villages over night, but outside 
under the wings. The villages are guarded by sentinels with 
trumpets, who call to one another just as in the fortresses of 
Spain. 

There are seven other villages along this route, toward the 
snowy mountains, 3 one of which has been half destroyed by the 
people already referred to. These were under the rule of Cicuye. 
Cicuye is in a little valley between mountain chains and moun- 
tains covered with large pine forests. There is a little stream 4 
which contains very good trout and otters, and there are very 
large bears and good falcons hereabouts. 



1 These Indians were seen by Coronado during his journey across the 
plains. See p. 333, note 3. 

2 The name applied in Mexico at the time to any warlike, unsubdued 
tribe. 

3 The mountains to the north, in which the Rio Pecos has its source. 
* The Rio Pecos, still noted for trout. 



358 SPANISH EXPLOBERS [1541 

Chapter 6 

Which gives the number of villages which were seen in the country 
of the terraced houses, and their population. 

Before I proceed to speak of the plains, with the cows 
and settlements and tribes there, it seems to me that it will be 
well for the reader to know how large the settlements were, 
where the houses with stories, gathered into villages, were seen, 
and how great an extent of country they occupied. 1 As I say, 
Cibola is the first: 

Cibola, seven villages. 2 

Tusayan, seven villages. 3 

The rock of Acuco, one. 4 

Tiguex, twelve villages. 5 

Tutahaco, eight villages. 6 

These villages were below the river. 7 

Quirix, seven villages. 8 

In the snowy mountains, seven villages. 9 

Ximena, three villages. 10 



1 Only the pueblos of Acoma and Isleta occupy their sixteenth-century 
sites, all the other villages having shifted their locations after the great revolt 
of 1680-1692, when the Spaniards granted specific tracts of land, usually a 
league square, later confirmed to the Indians by Congress under the provi- 
sions of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. 

2 Zufii, including the pueblos of Halona, Matsaki, Kiakima, Hawiku, 
Kyanawe, and two others which have not been identified with certainty. 

3 The Hopi villages, among them being Awatobi (destroyed at the begin- 
ning of the eighteenth century), Oraibi, Walpi, Mishongnovi, Shongopovi, 
and Shupaulovi. The remaining pueblo has not been determined absolutely. 
Sichomovi and Hano are comparatively modern. 

4 Acoma. See p. 311, note 2. 

6 The Tigua pueblos; see p. 312, note 2. 

6 See p. 314, note 1. 

7 Meaning that the provinces of Tiguex and Tutahaco were those farthest 
down the valley. 

8 The pueblos of the Que res, or Keresan, family. See p. 327, note 3. 

9 Toward the north, in the direction of Santa Fe. 

10 Ximena itself was Galisteo. The others were "Coquite" and the 
" Pueblo de los Silos." See p. 356, notes 2 and 3. 



1541] EXPEDITION OF CORONADO 359 

Cicuye, one village. 1 

Hemes, seven villages. 2 

Aguas Calientes, or Boiling Springs, three villages. 3 

Yuqueyunque, in the mountains, six villages. 4 

Valladolid, called Braba, one village. 5 

Chia, one village. 6 

In all, there are sixty-six villages. 7 Tiguex appears to be 
in the centre of the villages. Valladolid is the farthest up the 
river toward the northeast. The four villages down the river 
are toward the southeast, because the river turns toward the 
east. 8 It is 130 leagues — ten more or less — from the farthest 
point that was seen down the river to the farthest point up the 
river, and all the settlements are within this region. Including 
those at a distance, there are sixty-six villages in all, as I have 
said, and in all of them there may be some 20,000 men, which 
may be taken to be a fair estimate of the population of the 
villages. 9 There are no houses or other buildings between one 

1 Pecos. See p. 355, note 2. 

2 Jemez, including Giusiwa, Amushungkwa, Patoqua, and Astyalakwa. 
There are many ruins in the vicinity, including those of a large Spanish 
church at Giusiwa. Evidently some of the Sia villages are here included. 

3 The Jemez villages about the Jemez Hot Springs, above the present 
Jemez pueblo. Castaneda here duplicates his provinces somewhat, as the 
Aguas Calientes pueblos were Jemez, Giusiwa being one of the most prominent. 

4 See p. 340, note 1. This group of Tewa villages doubtless included 
San Juan, Santa Clara, San Ildefonso, Tesuque, Nambe, Pojoaque, and 
Yukiwingge. Jacona, Cuyamunque, and others were also occupied by the 
Tewas during this period, no doubt, but these may have been included in 
Castaneda 's province of the Snowy Mountains. 

5 Taos. See p. 340, note 4. 

6 Sia, a Queres pueblo, probably included, with Santa Ana, in his " Quirix " 
group, above. 

7 Castaneda lists seventy-one, probably having added others without 
altering the total here given. 

8 The trend of the Rio Grande is really southwestward until after the 
southern limit of the old Pueblo settlements is passed. Perhaps Castaneda had 
in mind the southeastward course of the stream farther south ' ' toward Florida, " 
as mentioned later in this paragraph. He is probably here speaking from 
hearsay, as the exploration downstream was not made by the main body. 

9 This would give a total Pueblo population of about 70,000, whereas it 
could scarcely have much exceeded Castaneda 's estimated number of men 
alone. 



360 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1541 

village and another, but where we went it is entirely unin- 
habited. These people, since they are few, and their manners, 
government, and habits are so different from all the nations 
that have been seen and discovered in these western regions, 
must come from that part of Greater India, the coast of which 
lies to the west of this country, for they could have come down 
from that country, crossing the mountain chains and following 
down the river, settling in what seemed to them the best place. 
As they multiplied, they have kept on making settlements 
until they lost the river when it buried itself underground, its 
course being in the direction of Florida. It [the Rio Grande] 
comes down from the northeast, where they [Coronado's army] 
could certainly have found signs of villages. He [Coronado] 
preferred, however, to follow the reports of the Turk, but it 
would have been better to cross the mountains where this river 
rises. I believe they would have found traces of riches and 
would have reached the lands from which these people started, 
which from its location is on the edge of Greater India, al- 
though the region is neither known nor understood, because 
from the trend of the coast it appears that the land between 
Norway and China is very far up. The country from sea to sea 
is very wide, judging from the location of both coasts, as well 
as from what Captain Villalobos discovered when he went 
in search of China by the sea to the west, 1 and from what has 
been discovered on the North Sea concerning the trend of the 
coast of Florida toward the Bacallaos, up toward Norway. 2 

To return then to the proposition with which I began, I say 
that the settlements and people already named were all that 
were seen in a region seventy leagues wide and 130 long, in the 

1 Ruy Lopez de Villalobos sailed from Acapulco, Mexico, in command of 
four vessels, in 1542, discovered the Caroline and Pelew archipelagos and 
sighted Caesarea Caroli, believed to be Luzon, of the Philippine group. 
Later he established a colony on an island which he called Antonio or Sara- 
gan. Supplies failing, he despatched three of the vessels to Mexico, but these 
were wrecked. Forced by hunger to flee to Amboina, Villalobos was im- 
prisoned by the Portuguese. One of his men, escaping, carried the news to 
Mexico in 1549. 

2 "The Spanish text," remarks Mr. Winship, "fully justifies Castafieda's 
statement that he was not skilled in the arts of rhetoric and geography." 



1541] EXPEDITION OF CORONADO 361 

settled country along the river Tiguex. 1 In New Spain there 
are not one but many establishments containing a larger num- 
ber of people. Silver metals 2 were found in many of their 
villages, which they use for glazing and painting their earthen- 
ware. 

Chapter 7 

Which treats of the plains that were crossed, of the cows, and of 
the people who inhabit them. 

We have spoken of the settlements of high houses which are 
situated in what seems to be the most level and open part of 
the mountains, since it is 150 leagues across before entering the 
level country between the two mountain chains which I said 
were near the North Sea and the South Sea, which might better 
be called the Western Sea along this coast. This mountain 
series is the one which is near the South Sea. In order to show 
that the settlements are in the middle of the mountains, I will 
state that it is eighty leagues from Chichilticalli, where we be- 
gan to cross this country, to Cibola ; from Cibola, which is the 
first village, to Cicuye, which is the last on the way across, is 
seventy leagues; it is thirty leagues from Cicuye to where 
the plains begin. It may be we went across in an indirect or 
roundabout way, which would make it seem as if there was 
more country than if it had been crossed in a direct line, 3 and 
it may be more difficult and rougher. This can not be known 
certainly, because the mountains change their direction above 
the bay at the mouth of the Firebrand (Tizon) River. 4 

Now we will speak of the plains. The country is spacious 
and level, and is more than 400 leagues wide in the part between 

1 Castaneda here contradicts himself, as Pecos, Acoma, and the Zufii and 
Tusayan groups of pueblos are not in the valley of the Rio Grande. 

2 Previously called antimony. See p. 355, note 1. 

3 After leaving Cicuye (Pecos) the army marched down the river for four 
days, crossed the stream over a bridge that they had built, and then reached 
the Staked Plain of Texas by travelling first a northeasterly then a south- 
easterlv course. See Pt. 1, chap. 19. 

4 The Rio Colorado. 



362 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1541 

the two mountain ranges — one, that which Francisco Vazquez 
Coronado crossed, and the other that which the force under 
Don Fernando de Soto crossed, near the North Sea, entering 
the country from Florida. No settlements were seen anywhere 
on these plains. 1 

In traversing 250 leagues, the other mountain range was not 
seen, nor a hill nor a hillock which was three times as high as a 
man. Several lakes were found at intervals ; they were round 
as plates, a stone's throw or more across, some fresh and some 
salt. 2 The grass grows tall near these lakes ; away from them 
it is very short, a span or less. The country is like a bowl, 
so that when a man sits down, the horizon surrounds him all 
around at the distance of a musket shot. There are no groves 
of trees except at the rivers, which flow at the bottom of some 
ravines where the trees grow so thick that they were not noticed 
until one was right on the edge of them. They are of dead 
earth. There are paths down into these, made by the cows 
when they go to the water, which is essential throughout these 
plains. As I have related in the first part, people follow the 
cows, hunting them and tanning the skins to take to the settle- 
ments in the winter to sell, since they go there to pass the win- 
ter, each company going to those which are nearest, some to 
the settlements at Cicuye, others toward Quivira, and others to 
the settlements which are situated in the direction of Florida. 
These people are called Querechos and Teyas. They de- 
scribed some large settlements, and judging from what was 
seen of these people and from the accounts they gave of other 
places, there are a good many more of these people than there 
are of those at the settlements. They have better figures, are 
better warriors, and are more feared. They travel like the 
Arabs, with their tents and troops of dogs loaded with poles 3 

1 That is, if the writer overlooks the settlements (one of them called 
Cona) in the ravines of the headwaters of the Texas streams, about the 
eastern escarpment of the Staked Plain, previously mentioned. 

2 The salt lakes near the Texas-New Mexico boundary. Further allusion 
to these salt lakes is made in Pt. 1, chap. 21. 

3 The well-known travois of the plains tribes. The poles were those used 
to support the tents, or tipis, and were usually of cedar. 



1541] EXPEDITION OF CORONADO 363 

and having Moorish pack-saddles with girths. When the load 
gets disarranged, the dogs howl, calling some one to fix them 
right. These people eat raw flesh and drink blood. They do 
not eat human flesh. 1 They are a kind people and not cruel. 
They are faithful friends. They are able to make themselves 
very well understood by means of signs. 2 They dry the flesh 
in the sun, cutting it thin like a leaf, 3 and when dry they grind 
it like meal to keep it and make a sort of sea soup of it to eat. 
A handful thrown into a pot swells up so as to increase very 
much. They season it with fat, which they always try to secure 
when they kill a cow. 4 They empty a large gut and fill it with 
blood, and carry this around the neck to drink when they are 
thirsty. When they open the belly of a cow, they squeeze 
out the chewed grass and drink the juice that remains behind, 
because they say that this contains the essence of the stomach. 
They cut the hide open at the back and pull it off at the joints, 
using a flint as large as a finger, tied in a little stick, with as 
much ease as if working with a good iron tool. They give it an 
edge with their own teeth. The quickness with which they 
do this is something worth seeing and noting. 

There are very great numbers of wolves on these plains, 
which go around with the cows. They have white skins. The 
deer are pied with white. Their skin is loose, so that when they 
are killed it can be pulled off with the hand while warm, com- 
ing off like pigskin. The rabbits, which are very numerous, 
are so foolish that those on horseback killed them with their 
lances. This is when they are mounted among the cows. 
They fly from a person on foot. 

1 Some of the tribes of Texas, however, especially the Attacapa and the 
Tonka wa, were noted as cannibals. 

2 The sign language was in general use among the tribes of the great plains, 
rendered necessary by the diversity of languages. See Mallery, Introduction 
to the Study of Sign Language (Washington, 1880) ; Clark, Indian Sign Lan- 
guage (1885). 

3 The "jerked beef" of the later frontiersmen. 

4 The pemmican of the Indians. 



364 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1541 

Chapter 8 

Of Quivira, of where it is and some information about it. 

Quivira is to the west 1 of those ravines, in the midst of the 
country, somewhat nearer the mountains toward the sea, for 
the country is level as far as Quivira, and there they began to 
see some mountain chains. The country is well settled. 
Judging from what was seen on the borders of it, this country 
is very similar to that of Spain in the varieties of vegetation 
and fruits. There are plums like those of Castile, grapes, nuts, 
mulberries, oats, pennyroyal, wild marjoram, and large quan- 
tities of flax, but this does not do them any good, because they 
do not know how to use it. 2 The people are of almost the same 
sort and appearance as the Teyas. They have villages like 
those in New Spain. The houses are round, without a wall, 
and they have one story like a loft, under the roof, where they 
sleep and keep their belongings. The roofs are of straw. 3 There 
are other thickly settled provinces around it containing large 
numbers of men. A friar named Juan de Padilla remained in 
this province, together with a Spanish-Portuguese and a negro 
and a half-blood and some Indians from the province of Capo- 
than, 4 in New Spain. They killed the friar because he wanted 
to go to the province of the Guas, 5 who were their enemies. 
The Spaniard escaped by taking flight on a mare, and afterward 
reached New Spain, coming out by way of Panuco. The Ind- 
ians from New Spain who accompanied the friar were allowed 

1 Castaneda is sometimes confused in his directions. In this instance 
unless " west " (poniente) is a slip of the pen, he evidently forgot that the army 
travelled for weeks to the north, "by the needle," after journeying for some 
distance toward sunrise from the ravines of western Texas. 

2 This flora is characteristic of the upper plains generally, and the passage 
has been quoted by students of the route to show that Quivira lay both in 
Kansas and in Nebraska. 

3 Note the character of the houses as one of the chief means of deter- 
mining the inhabitants of Quivira. See p. 337, note 1. 

4 The Jaramillo narrative says Capottan or Capotean. 

B Possibly the Kaw or Kansa Indians. See Pt. 3, chap. 4. 



1541] EXPEDITION OF CORONADO 365 

by the murderers to bury him, and then they followed the 
Spaniard and overtook him. This Spaniard was a Portuguese, 
named Campo. 1 

The great river of the Holy Spirit (Espiritu Santo), 2 which 
Don Fernando de Soto discovered in the country of Florida, 
flows through this country. It passes through a province 
called Arache, 3 according to the reliable accounts which were 
obtained here. The sources were not visited, because, accord- 
ing to what they said, it comes from a very distant country in 
the mountains of the South Sea, from the part that sheds its 
waters onto the plains. It flows across all the level country 
and breaks through the mountains of the North Sea, and comes 
out where the people with Don Fernando de Soto navigated it. 
This is more than 300 leagues from where it enters the sea. 4 On 
account of this, and also because it has large tributaries, it is 
so mighty when it enters the sea that they lost sight of the 
land before the water ceased to be fresh. 5 

This country of Quivira was the last that was seen, of which 
I am able to give any description or information. Now it is 
proper for me to return and speak of the army, which I left 
in Tiguex, resting for the winter, so that it would be able to 
proceed or return in search of these settlements of Quivira, 
which was not accomplished after all, because it was God's 
pleasure that these discoveries should remain for other peo- 
ples and that we who had been there should content ourselves 
with saying that we were the first who discovered it and ob- 
tained any information concerning it, just as Hercules knew 

1 Compare Herrera, Historia General, dec. vi., lib. ix., cap. xn., Vol. III., 
p. 207 (ed. 1730) ; Gomara, Historia General, cap. ccxiin. (1553) ; Mota 
Padilla, Historia de la Conquista, 1742, p. 167 (1870) ; and specially Bande- 
lier in American Catholic Quarterly Review, XV. 551-565 (Philadelphia, 
July, 1890). 

2 The Missouri-Mississippi. 

3 The Harahey of Jaramillo's account — evidently the Pawnee country, 
about the Platte River, Nebraska. The " Relacion del Suceso," Fourteenth 
Report of the Bureau of Ethnology (Washington, 1896), spells it Harale. 

4 The North and the South seas are the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans 
respectively. 

5 See Cabeza de Vaca's narrative in the present volume. 



366 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1541 

the site where Julius Caesar was to found Seville or Hispales. 
May the all-powerful Lord grant that His will be done in every- 
thing. It is certain that if this had not been His will Francisco 
Vazquez [Coronado] would not have returned to New Spain 
without cause or reason, as he did, and that it would not have 
been left for those with Don Fernando de Soto to settle such a 
good country, as they have done, and besides settling it to 
increase its extent, after obtaining, as they did, information 
from our army. 1 

THIRD PART 

Which describes what happened to Francisco Vazquez Coronado 
during the winter, and how he gave up the expedition 
and returned to New Spain. 

Laus Deo 

Chapter 1 

Of how Don Pedro de Tovar came from Senora with some men, 
and Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas started back to 
New Spain. 

At the end of the first part of this book, we told how Fran- 
cisco Vazquez Coronado, when he got back from Quivira, gave 
orders to winter at Tiguex, in order to return, when the winter 
was over, with his whole army to discover all the settlements 
in those regions. Don Pedro de Tovar, who had gone, as we 
related, to conduct a force from the city of San Hieronimo, 
arrived in the meantime with the men whom he had brought. 

1 Mr. Winship calls attention to Mota Padilla's reasons for the failure of 
the expedition : "It was most likely the chastisement of God that riches were 
not found on this expedition, because, when this ought to have been the sec- 
ondary object of the expedition, and the conversion of all those heathen their 
first aim, they bartered with fate and struggled after the secondary ; and thus 
the misfortune is not so much that all those labors were without fruit, but the 
worst is that such a number of souls have remained in their blindness." 
Historia de la Conquista, 1742, p. 166 (repr. 1870). 



1541] EXPEDITION OF CORONADO 367 

He had not selected the rebels and seditious men there, but 
the most experienced ones and the best soldiers — men whom 
he could trust — wisely considering that he ought to have good 
men in order to go in search of his general in the country of the 
Indian called Turk. Although they found the army at Tiguex 
when they arrived there, this did not please them much, be- 
cause they had come with great expectations, believing that 
they would find their general in the rich country of the Indian 
called Turk. They consoled themselves with the hope of going 
back there, and lived in anticipation of the pleasure of under- 
taking this return expedition which the army would soon 
make to Quivira. Don Pedro de Tovar brought letters from 
New Spain, both from the viceroy, Don Antonio de Mendoza, 
and from individuals. Among these was one for Don Garcia 
Lopez de Cardenas, which informed him of the death of his 
brother, the heir, and summoned him to Spain to receive the 
inheritance. On this account he was given permission, and left 
Tiguex with several other persons who received permission to 
go and settle their affairs. 1 There were many others who would 
have liked to go, but did not, in order not to appear faint- 
hearted. During this time the general endeavored to pacify 
several villages in the neighborhood which were not well dis- 
posed, and to make peace with the people at Tiguex. He 
tried also to procure some of the cloth of the country, because 
the soldiers were almost naked and poorly clothed, full of lice, 
which they were unable to get rid of or avoid. 

The general, Francisco Vazquez Coronado, had been beloved 
and obeyed by his captains and soldiers as heartily as any of 
those who have ever started out in the Indies. Necessity 
knows no law, and the captains who collected the cloth divided 
it badly, taking the best for themselves and their friends and 
soldiers, and leaving the rest for the soldiers, and so there began 

1 According to the Relation del Suceso : " Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas 
started off for Mexico, who, besides the fact that his arm was very bad, had 
permission from the viceroy on account of the death of his brother. Ten or 
twelve who were sick went with him, and not a man among them all who 
could fight." Cardenas, it will be recalled, had broken his arm. See Pt. 1, 
chap. 19. 



368 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1541 

to be some angry murmuring on account of this. Others also 
complained because they noticed that some favored ones were 
spared in the work and in the watches and received better por- 
tions of what was divided, both of cloth and food. On this 
account it is thought that they began to say that there was 
nothing in the country of Quivira which was worth returning 
for, which was no slight cause of what afterward happened, 
as will be seen. 

Chapter 2 

Of the general's fall, and of how the return to New Spain was 

ordered. 

After the winter 1 was over, the return to Quivira was an- 
nounced, and the men began to prepare the things needed. 
Since nothing in this life is at the disposition of men, but all 
is under the ordination of Almighty God, it was His will that 
we should not accomplish this, and so it happened that one 
feast day the general went out on horseback to amuse himself, 
as usual, riding with the captain Don Rodrigo Maldonado. 
He was on a powerful horse, and his servants had put on a new 
girth, which must have been rotten at the time, for it broke 
during the race and he fell over on the side where Don Rod- 
rigo was, and as his horse passed over him it hit his head with 
its hoof, which laid him at the point of death, and his recovery 
was slow and doubtful. 

During this time, while he was in his bed, Don Garcia Lopez 
de Cardenas, who had started to go to New Spain, came 
back in flight from Suya, because he had found that town 
deserted and the people and horses and cattle all dead. 2 
When he reached Tiguex and learned the sad news that the 
general was near his end, as already related, they did not dare 
to tell him until he had recovered, and when he finally got up 

1 Of 1541-1542. 

2 Cardenas had "reached the town of the Spaniards and found it burned 
and two Spaniards and many Indians and horses dead, and he returned to the 
river on this account." (Relation del Suceso.) 



1542] EXPEDITION" OF COKONADO 369 

and learned of it, it affected him so much that he had to go 
back to bed again. He may have done this in order to bring 
about what he afterward accomplished, as was believed later. 
It was while he was in this condition that he recollected what a 
scientific friend of his in Salamanca had told him, that he 
would become a powerful lord in distant lands, and that he 
would have a fall from which he would never be able to recover. 
This expectation of death made him desire to return and die 
where he had a wife and children. As the physician and sur- 
geon who was doctoring him, and also acted as a talebearer, 
suppressed the murmurings that were going about among the 
soldiers, he treated secretly and underhandedly with several 
gentlemen who agreed with him. They set the soldiers to 
talking about going back to New Spain, in little knots and 
gatherings, and induced them to hold consultations about it, 
and had them send papers to the general, signed by all the 
soldiers, through their ensigns, asking for this. They all 
entered into it readily, and not much time needed to be spent, 
since many desired it already. When they asked him, the 
general acted as if he did not want to do it, but all the gentlemen 
and captains supported them, giving him their signed opinions, 
and as some were in this, they could give it at once, and they 
even persuaded others to do the same. Thus they made it 
seem as if they ought to return to New Spain, because they 
had not found any riches, nor had they discovered any settled 
country out of which estates could be formed for all the army. 
When he had obtained their signatures, the return to New 
Spain was at once announced, and since nothing can ever be 
concealed, the double dealing began to be understood, and many 
of the gentlemen found that they had been deceived and had 
made a mistake. They tried in every way to get their signa- 
tures back again from the general, who guarded them so care- 
fully that he did not go out of one room, making his sickness 
seem very much worse, and putting guards about his person and 
room, and at night about the floor on which he slept. In 
spite of all this, they stole his chest, and it is said that they did 
not find their signatures in it, because he kept them in his 

2b 



370 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1541 

mattress ; on the other hand, it is said that they did recover 
them. They asked the general to give them sixty picked men, 
with whom they would remain and hold the country until the 
viceroy could send them support, or recall them, or else that 
the general would leave them the army and pick out sixty men 
to go back with him. But the soldiers did not want to remain 
either way, some because they had turned their prow toward 
New Spain, and others because they saw clearly the trouble that 
would arise over who should have the command. The gentle- 
men, I do not know whether because they had sworn fidelity or 
because they feared that the soldiers would not support them, 
did what had been decided on, although with an ill-will, and 
from this time on they did not obey the general as readily as 
formerly, and they did not show any affection for him. He 
made much of the soldiers and humored them, with the result 
that he did what he desired and secured the return of the whole 
army. 

Chapter 3 

Of the rebellion at Suya and the reasons the settlers gave for it. 

We have already stated in the last chapter that Don 
Garcia Lopez de Cardenas came back from Suya in flight, hav- 
ing found that country risen in rebellion. He told how and 
why that town was deserted, which occurred as I will relate. 
The entirely worthless fellows were all who had been left in 
that town, the mutinous and seditious men, besides a few who 
were honored with the charge of public affairs and who were 
left to govern the others. Thus the bad dispositions of the 
worthless secured the power, and they held daily meetings and 
councils and declared that they had been betrayed and were 
not going to be rescued, since the others had been directed to 
go through another part of the country, where there was a 
more convenient route to New Spain, which was not so, be- 
cause they were still almost on the direct road. This talk led 
some of them to revolt, and they chose one Pedro de Avila as 
their captain. They went back to Culiacan, leaving the cap- 



1541] EXPEDITION OF COKONADO 371 

tain, Diego de Alcaraz, sick in the town of San Hieronimo, 
with only a small force. He did not have anyone whom he 
could send after them to compel them to return. They killed 
a number of people at several villages along the way. Finally 
they reached Culiacan, where Hernando Arias de Saabedra, 1 
who was waiting for Juan Gallego to come back from New 
Spain with a force, detained them by means of promises, so 
that Gallego could take them back. Some who feared what 
might happen to them ran away one night to New Spain. 
Diego de Alcaraz, who had remained at Suya with a small 
force, sick, was not able to hold his position, . although he 
would have liked to, on account of the poisonous herb which 
the natives use. 2 When these noticed how weak the Span- 
iards were, they did not continue to trade with them as they 
formerly had done. Veins of gold had already been discov- 
ered before this, but they were unable to work these, because 
the country was at war. The disturbance was so great that 
they did not cease to keep watch and to be more than usually 
careful. 

The town was situated on a little river. 3 One night they 
suddenly saw fires which they were not accustomed to, and on 
this account they doubled the watches, but not having noticed 
anything during the whole night, they grew careless along 
toward morning, and the enemy entered the village so silently 
that they were not seen until they began to kill and plunder. 
A number of men reached the plain as well as they could, but 
while they were getting out the captain was mortally wounded. 
Several Spaniards came back on some horses after they had 
recovered themselves and attacked the enemy, rescuing some, 
though only a few. The enemy went off with the booty, leav- 
ing three Spaniards killed 4 besides many of the servants and 
more than twenty horses. 

1 Compare the spelling of this name on p. 297. 

2 That is, to poison their arrows. 

3 The San Pedro, in Sonora near the Arizona boundary. The Indians 
who made this attack may have been the Sobaipuri. 

4 See p. 368, note 2. 



372 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1542 

The Spaniards who survived started off the same day on 
foot ; not having any horses. They went toward Culiacan, 
keeping away from the roads, and did not find any food until 
they reached Corazones where the Indians, like the good 
friends they have always been, provided them with food. 
From here they continued to Culiacan, undergoing great hard- 
ships. Hernandarias de Saabedra, the mayor, received them 
and entertained them as well as he could until Juan Gallego 
arrived with the reinforcements which he was conducting, on 
his way to find the army. He was not a little troubled at 
finding that post deserted, when he expected that the army 
would be in the rich country which had been described by 
the Indian called Turk, because he looked like one. 

Chapter 4 

Of how Friar Juan de Padilla and Friar Luis remained in 
the country and the army prepared to return to Mexico. 

When the general, Francisco Vasquez, saw that every- 
thing was now quiet, and that his schemes had gone as he 
wished, he ordered that everything should be ready to start 
on the return to New Spain by the beginning of the month 
of April, in the year 1543 [1542]. 

Seeing this, Friar Juan de Padilla, a regular brother of the 
lesser order, and another, Friar Luis, 1 a lay brother, told the 
general that they wanted to remain in that country — Friar 
Juan de Padilla in Quivira, because his teachings seemed to 
promise fruit there, and Friar Luis at Cicuye. On this ac- 
count, as it was Lent at the time, the father made this the 
subject of his sermon to the companies one Sunday, establish- 
ing his proposition on the authority of the Holy Scriptures. 
He declared his zeal for the conversion of these peoples and 
his desire to draw them to the faith, and stated that he had 
received permission to do it, although this was not necessary. 

1 Fray Luis Descalona, or De Escalona, or De Ubeda. For references on 
these friars, see p. 365, note 1. See also p. 355, note 2. 



1542] EXPEDITION OF CORONADO 373 

The general sent a company to escort them as far as Cicuye, 
where Friar Luis stopped, while Friar Juan went on back to 
Quivira with the guides who had conducted the general, tak- 
ing with him the Portuguese, as we related, and the half-blood, 
and the Indians from New Spain. He was martyred a short 
time after he arrived there, as we related in the second part, 
Chapter 8. Thus we may be sure that he died a martyr, 
because his zeal was holy and earnest. 

Friar Luis remained at Cicuye. Nothing more has been 
heard about him since, but before the army left Tiguex some 
men who went to take him a number of sheep that were left 
for him to keep, met him as he was on his way to visit some 
other villages, which were fifteen or twenty leagues from Ci- 
cuye, accompanied by some followers. He felt very hopeful 
that he was liked at the village and that his teaching would 
bear fruit, although he complained that the old men were 
falling away from him. I, for my part, believe that they 
finally killed him. He was a man of good and holy life, and 
may Our Lord protect him and grant that he may convert 
many of those peoples, and end his days in guiding them in 
the faith. We do not need to believe otherwise, for the peo- 
ple in those parts are pious and not at all cruel. They are 
friends, or rather, enemies of cruelty, and they remained faith- 
ful and loyal friends. 1 

1 Gen. W. W. H. Davis, in his Spanish Conquest of New Mexico, p. 231, 
gives the following extract, translated from an old Spanish MS. at Santa Fe : 
"When Coronado returned to Mexico, he left behind him, among the Indians 
of Cibola, the father Fray Francisco Juan de Padilla, the father Fray Juan de 
la Cruz, and a Portuguese named Andres del Campo. Soon after the Span- 
iards departed, Padilla and the Portuguese set off in search of the country of 
the Grand Quivira, where the former understood there were innumerable 
souls to be saved. After travelling several days, they reached a large settle- 
ment in the Quivira country. The Indians came out to receive them in 
battle array, when the friar, knowing their intentions, told the Portuguese and 
his attendants to take to flight, while he would await their coming, in order 
that they might vent their fury on him as they ran. The former took to 
flight, and, placing themselves on a height within view, saw what happened 
to the friar. Padilla awaited their coming upon his knees, and when they 
arrived where he was they immediately put him to death. The same hap- 
pened to Juan de la Cruz, who was left behind at Cibola, which people killed 



374 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1542 

After the friars had gone, the general, fearing that they 
might be injured if people were carried away from that coun- 
try to New Spain, ordered the soldiers to let any of the natives 
who were held as servants go free to their villages whenever 
they might wish. In my opinion, though I am not sure, it 
would have been better if they had been kept and taught 
among Christians. 

The general was very happy and contented when the time 
arrived and everything needed for the journey was ready, and 
the army started from Tiguex on its way back to Cibola. 
One thing of no small note happened during this part of the 
trip. The horses were in good condition for their work when 
they started, fat and sleek, but more than thirty died during 
the ten days which it took to reach Cibola, and there was not 
a day in which two or three or more did not die. A large 
number of them also died afterward before reaching Culiacan, 
a thing that did not happen during all the rest of the journey. 

After the army reached Cibola, it rested before starting 
across the wilderness, because this was the last of the settle- 
ments in that country. The whole country was left well dis- 
posed and at peace, and several of our Indian allies remained 
there. 1 

him. The Portuguese and his attendants made their escape, and ultimately 
arrived safely in Mexico, where he told what had occurred." In reply to a 
request for further information regarding this manuscript, General Davis 
stated that when he revisited Santa Fe, a few years ago, he learned that one of 
his successors in the post of governor of the territory, having despaired of dis- 
posing of the immense mass of old documents and records deposited in his 
office, by the slow process of using them to kindle fires, had sold the entire lot 
— an invaluable collection of material bearing on the history of the Southwest 
and its early European and native inhabitants — as junk. (Winship.) 
The governor referred to was Rev. William A. Pile, appointed by President 
>Grant and serving in 1869-1870. 

1 When Antonio de Espejo visited Cibola, or Zufii, in 1583, he found three 
Indians, natives of Mexico, who had been left by Coronado but who had for- 
gotten their mother tongue. He also found crosses that had been erected 
by Coronado. 



1542] EXPEDITION OF CORONADO 375 

Chapter 5 

Of how the army left the settlements and marched to Culiacan, 
and of what happened on the way. 

Leaving astern, as we might say, the settlements that had 
been discovered in the new land, of which, as I have said, the 
seven villages of Cibola were the first to be seen and the last 
that were left, the army started off, marching across the wil- 
derness. The natives kept following the rear of the army for 
two or three days, to pick up any baggage or servants, for 
although they were still at peace and had always been loyal 
friends, when they saw that we were going to leave the coun- 
try entirely, they were glad to get some of our people in their 
power, although I do not think that they wanted to injure 
them, from what I was told by some who were not willing to 
go back with them when they teased and asked them to. 
Altogether, they carried off several people besides those who 
had remained of their own accord, among whom good inter- 
preters could be found to-day. The wilderness was crossed 
without opposition, and on the second day before reaching 
Chichilticalli Juan Gallego met the army, as he was coming 
from New Spain with reenforcements of men and necessary 
supplies for the army, expecting that he would find the army 
in the country of the Indian called Turk. When Juan Gallego 
saw that the army was returning, the first thing he said was 
not, "I am glad you are coming back," and he did not like it 
any better after he had talked with the general. After he 
had reached the army, or rather the quarters, there was quite 
a little movement among the gentlemen toward going back 
with the new force which had made no slight exertions in com- 
ing thus far, having encounters every day with the Indians of 
these regions who had risen in revolt, as will be related. There 
was talk of making a settlement somewhere in that region until 
the viceroy could receive an account of what had occurred. 
Those soldiers who had come from the new lands would not 
agree to anything except the return to New Spain, so that 



376 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1542 

nothing came of the proposals made at the consultations, and 
although there was some opposition, they were finally quieted. 
Several of the mutineers who had deserted the town of Cora- 
zones came with Juan Gallego, who had given them his word 
as surety for their safety, and even if the general had wanted 
to punish them, his power was slight, for he had been dis- 
obeyed already and was not much respected. He began to 
be afraid again after this, and made himself sick, and kept a 
guard. In several places yells were heard and Indians seen, 
and some of the horses were wounded and killed, before Ba- 
tuco 1 was reached, where the friendly Indians from Corazones 
came to meet the army and see the general. They were al- 
ways friendly and had treated all the Spaniards who passed 
through their country well, furnishing them with what food 
they needed, and men, if they needed these. Our men had 
always treated them well and repaid them for these things. 
During this journey the juice of the quince was proved to be 
a good protection against the poison of the natives, because 
at one place, several days before reaching Senora, the hostile 
Indians wounded a Spaniard called Mesa, and he did not die, 
although the wound of the fresh poison is fatal, and there was 
a delay of over two hours before curing him with the juice. 
The poison, however, had left its mark upon him. The skin 
rotted and fell off until it left the bones and sinews bare, with 
a horrible smell. The wound was in the wrist, and the poison 
had reached as far as the shoulder when he was cured. The 
skin on all this fell off. 

The army proceeded without taking any rest, because the 
provisions had begun to fail by this time. These districts were 
in rebellion, and so there were not any victuals where the sol- 
diers could get them until they reached Petlatlan, although 
they made several forays into the cross country in search of 

1 There were two settlements in Sonora bearing this name, one occupied 
by the Eudeve and the other by the Tegui division of the Opata. The latter 
village, which was probably the one referred to by Castafieda, was situated 
on the Rio de Oposura, a western tributary of the Yaqui, eight leagues east 
of San Jose Matape. It became the seat of the Jesuit mission of Santa 
Maria in 1629. 



1542] EXPEDITION OF CORONADO 377 

provisions. Petlatlan is in the province of Culiacan, and on 
this account was at peace, although they had several surprises 
after this. 1 The army rested here several days to get provi- 
sions. After leaving here they were able to travel more quickly 
than before, for the thirty leagues of the valley of Culiacan, 
where they were welcomed back again as people who came 
with their governor, who had suffered ill treatment. 

Chapter 6 

Of how the general started from Culiacan to give the viceroy an 
account of the army with which he had been intrusted. 

It seemed, indeed, as if the arrival in the valley of Culiacan 
had ended the labors of this journey, partly because the gen- 
eral was governor there and partly because it was inhabited 
by Christians. On this account some began to disregard their 
superiors and the authority which their captains had over 
them, and some captains even forgot the obedience due to 
their general. Each one played his own game, so that while 
the general was marching toward the town, which was still 
ten leagues away, many of the men, or most of them, left him 
in order to rest in the valley, and some even proposed not to 
follow him. The general understood that he was not strong 
enough to compel them, although his position as governor 
gave him fresh authority. He determined to accomplish it by 
a better method, which was to order all the captains to pro- 
vide food and meat from the stores of several villages that 
were under his control as governor. He pretended to be sick, 
keeping his bed, so that those who had any business with him 
could speak to him or he with them more freely, without hin- 
drance or observation, and he kept sending for his particular 
friends in order to ask them to be sure to speak to the soldiers 
and encourage them to accompany him back to New Spain, 
and to tell them that he would request the viceroy, Don 

1 See pp. 346, 347. Petatlan is an Aztec word signifying "place of the 
petates, " or mats, referring to the character of the native dwellings. 



378 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1542 

Antonio de Mendoza, to show them especial favor, and that he 
would do so himself for those who might wish to remain in 
his government. After this had been done, he started with his 
army at a very bad time, when the rains were beginning, for 
it was about Saint John's day, 1 at which season it rains con- 
tinuously. In the uninhabited country which they passed 
through as far as Compostela there are numerous very dan- 
gerous rivers, full of large and fierce alligators. While the 
army was halting at one of these rivers, a soldier who was 
crossing from one side to the other was seized, in sight of 
everybody, and carried off by an alligator without its being 
possible to help him. The general proceeded, leaving the men 
who did not want to follow him all along the way, and reached 
Mexico with less than 100 men. He made his report to the 
viceroy, Don Antonio de Mendoza, who did not receive him 
very graciously, although he gave him his discharge. His 
reputation was gone from this time on. He kept the govern- 
ment of New Galicia, which had been entrusted to him, for 
only a short time, when the viceroy took it himself, until the 
arrival of the court, or audiencia, which still governs it. And 
this was the end of those discoveries and of the expedition 
which was made to these new lands. 

It now remains for us to describe the way in which to enter 
the country by a more direct route, although there is never a 
short cut without hard work. It is always best to find out 
what those know who have prepared the way, who know what 
will be needed. This can be found elsewhere, and I will now 
tell where Quivira lies, what direction the army took, and the 
direction in which Greater India lies, which was what they 
pretended to be in search of, when the army started thither. 
Today, since Villalobos 2 has discovered that this part of the 
coast of the South Sea trends toward the west, it is clearly 
seen and acknowledged that, since we were in the north, we 
ought to have turned to the west instead of toward the east, 
as we did. With this, we will leave this subject and will pro- 

1 June 24, 1542. 

2 See p. 360, note 2. 



1542] EXPEDITION OF COEONADO 379 

ceed to finish this treatise, since there are several noteworthy 
things of which I must give an account, which I have left to 
be treated more extensively in the two following chapters. 

Chapter 7 

Of the adventures of Captain Juan Gallego while he was bring- 
ing reenforcements through the revolted country. 

One might well have complained when in the last chapter 
I passed in silence over the exploits of Captain Juan Gallego 
with his twenty companions. I will relate them in the pres- 
ent chapter, so that in times to come those who read about it 
or tell of it may have a reliable authority on whom to rely. 
I am not writing fables, like some of the things which we read 
about nowadays in the books of chivalry. If it were not that 
those stories contained enchantments, there are some things 
which our Spaniards have done in our own day in these parts, 
in their conquests and encounters with the Indians, which, 
for deeds worthy of admiration, surpass not only the books 
already mentioned, but also those which have been written 
about the twelve peers of France, because, if the deadly strength 
which the authors of those times attributed to their heroes 
and the brilliant and resplendent arms with which they adorned 
them, are fully considered, and compared with the small stature 
of the men of our time and the few and poor weapons which 
they have in these parts, the remarkable things which our 
people have undertaken and accomplished with such weapons 
are more to be wondered at to-day than those of which the 
ancients write, and just because, too, they fought with bar- 
barous naked people, as ours have with Indians, among whom 
there are always men who are brave and valiant and very 
sure bowmen, for we have seen them pierce the wings while 
flying, and hit hares while running after them. I have said 
all this in order to show that some things which we consider 
fables may be true, because we see greater things every day in 
our own times, just as in future times people will greatly 



380 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1542 

wonder at the deeds of Don Fernando Cortes, who dared to go 
into the midst of New Spain with 300 men against the vast 
number of people in Mexico, and who with 500 Spaniards suc- 
ceeded in subduing it, and made himself lord over it in two 
years. 

The deeds of Don Pedro de Alvarado in the conquest of 
Guatemala, and those of Montejo in Tabasco, the conquests 
of the mainland and of Peru, were all such as to make me 
remain silent concerning what I now wish to relate ; but since 
I have promised to give an account of what happened on this 
journey, I want the things I am now going to relate to be 
known as well as those others of which I have spoken. 

The captain Juan Gallego, then, reached the town of Culi- 
acan with a very small force. There he collected as many as 
he could of those who had escaped from the town of Hearts, 
or, more correctly, from Suya, which made in all twenty-two 
men, and with these he marched through all of the settled 
country, across which he travelled 200 leagues with the coun- 
try in a state of war and the people in rebellion, although they 
had formerly been friendly toward the Spaniards, having en- 
counters with the enemy almost every day. He always 
marched with the advance guard, leaving two-thirds of his 
force behind with the baggage. With six or seven Spaniards, 
and without any of the Indian allies whom he had with him, 
he forced his way into their villages, killing and destroying 
and setting them on fire, coming upon the enemy so suddenly 
and with such quickness and boldness that they did not have 
a chance to collect or even to do anything at all, until they 
became so afraid of him that there was not a town which 
dared wait for him, but they fled before him as from a power- 
ful army ; so much so, that for ten days, while he was passing 
through the settlements, they did not have an hour's rest. 
He did all this with his seven companions, so that when the 
rest of the force came up with the baggage there was nothing 
for them to do except to pillage, since the others had already 
killed and captured all the people they could lay their hands 
on and the rest had fled. They did not pause anywhere, so 



1542] EXPEDITION OF COEONADO 381 

that although the villages ahead of him received some warn- 
ing, they were upon them so quickly that they did not have a 
chance to collect. Especially in the region where the town of 
Hearts had been, he killed and hung a large number of people 
to punish them for their rebellion. He did not lose a com- 
panion during all this, nor was anyone wounded, except one 
soldier, who was wounded in the eyelid by an Indian who was 
almost dead, whom he was stripping. The weapon broke the 
skin and, as it was poisoned, he would have had to die if he 
had not been saved by the quince juice ; he lost his eye as it 
was. These deeds of theirs were such that I know those peo- 
ple will remember them as long as they live, and especially 
four or five friendly Indians who went with them from Cora- 
zones, who thought that they were so wonderful that they 
held them to be something divine rather than human. 1 If he 
had not fallen in with our army as he did, they would have 
reached the country of the Indian called Turk, which they 
expected to march to, and they would have arrived there with- 
out danger on account of their good order and the skill with 
which he was leading them, and their knowledge and ample 
practice in war. Several of these men are still in this town 
of Culiacan, where I am now writing this account and narra- 
tive, where they, as well as I and the others who have re- 
mained in this province, have never lacked for labor in keep- 
ing this country quiet, in capturing rebels, and increasing in 
poverty and need, and more than ever at the present hour, 
because the country is poorer and more in debt than ever 
before. 

Chapter 8 

Which describes some remarkable things that were seen on the 
plains, with a description of the bulls. 

My silence was not without mystery and dissimulation 
when, in Chapter 7 of the second part of this book, I spoke of 

1 The Indians of this vicinity had a similar regard for Cabeza de Vaca 
and his companions. See the narrative in the present volume. 



382 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1542 

the plains and of the things of which I will give a detailed 
account in this chapter, where all these things may be found 
together; for these things were remarkable and something 
not seen in other parts. I dare to write of them because I 
am writing at a time when many men are still living who saw 
them and who will vouch for my account. Who could believe 
that 1,000 horses and 500 of our cows and more than 5,000 rams 
and ewes and more than 1,500 friendly Indians and servants, 
in travelling over those plains, would leave no more trace 
where they had passed than if nothing had been there — 
nothing — so that it was necessary to make piles of bones 
and cow-dung now and then, so that the rear guard could 
follow the army. The grass never failed to become erect after 
it had been trodden down, and, although it was short, it was 
as fresh and straight as before. 

Another thing was a heap of cow bones, a crossbow shot 
long, or a very little less, almost twice a man's height in 
places, and some eighteen feet or more wide, which was found 
on the edge of a salt lake in the southern part, and this in a 
region where there are no people who could have made it. 
The only explanation of this which could be suggested was 
that the waves which the north winds must make in the lake 
had piled up the bones of the cattle which had died in the 
lake, when the old and weak ones who went into the water 
were unable to get out. The noticeable thing is the number 
of cattle that would be necessary to make such a pile of bones. 

Now that I wish to describe the appearance of the bulls, 
it is to be noticed first that there was not one of the horses 
that did not take flight when he saw them first, for they have 
a narrow, short face, the brow two palms across from eye to 
eye, the eyes sticking out at the side, so that, when they are 
running, they can see who is following them. They have 
very long beards, like goats, and when they are running they 
throw their heads back with the beard dragging on the ground. 
There is a sort of girdle round the middle of the body. The 
hair is very woolly, like a sheep's, very fine, and in front of 
the girdle the hair is very long and rough like a lion's. They 



1542] EXPEDITION OE COKONADO 383 

have a great hump, larger than a camel's. The horns are 
short and thick, so that they are not seen much above the 
hair. In May they change the hair in the middle of the body 
for a down, which makes perfect lions of them. They rub 
against the small trees in the little ravines to shed their hair, 
and they continue this until only the down is left, as a snake 
changes his skin. They have a short tail, with a bunch of 
hair at the end. When they run, they carry it erect like a 
scorpion. It is worth noticing that the little calves are red 
and just like ours, but they change their color and appear- 
ance with time and age. 

Another strange thing was that all the bulls that were 
killed had their left ears slit, although these were whole when 
young. The reason for this was a puzzle that could not be 
guessed. The wool ought to make good cloth on account of its 
fineness, although the color is not good, because it is the color 
of buriel. 1 

Another thing worth noticing is that the bulls travelled 
without cows in such large numbers that nobody could have 
counted them, and so far away from the cows that it was 
more than forty leagues from where we began to see the bulls 
to the place where we began to see the cows. The country 
they travelled over was so level and smooth that if one looked 
at them the sky could be seen between their legs, so that if 
some of them were at a distance they looked like smooth- 
trunked pines whose tops joined, and if there was only one bull 
it looked as if there were four pines. When one was near 
them, it was impossible to see the ground on the other side 
of them. The reason for all this was that the country seemed 
as round as if a man should imagine himself in a three-pint 
measure, and could see the sky at the edge of it, about a 

1 The kersey, or coarse woollen cloth out of which the habits of the Fran- 
ciscan friars were made. Hence the name Grey Friars. (Winship.) Various 
attempts were made to manufacture the hair into garments, especially stock- 
ings, but the ventures did not prove profitable. See Hornaday, " The Extinc- 
tion of the American Bison," Report of the United States National Museum 
for 1886-1887. 



384 SPANISH EXPLOEEES [1542 

crossbow shot from him, and even if a man only lay down on 
his back he lost sight of the ground. 

I have not written about other things which were seen nor 
made any mention of them, because they were not of so much 
importance, although it does not seem right for me to remain 
silent concerning the fact that they venerate the sign of the 
cross in the region where the settlements have high houses. 
For at a spring which was in the plain near Acuco they had a 
cross two palms high and as thick as a finger, made of wood 
with a square twig for its crosspiece, and many little sticks 
decorated with feathers around it, and numerous withered 
flowers, which were the offerings. 1 In a graveyard outside 
the village at Tutahaco there appeared to have been a recent 
burial. Near the head there was another cross made of two 
little sticks tied with cotton thread, and dry withered flowers. 2 
It certainly seems to me that in some way they must have 
received some light from the cross of Our Redeemer, Christ, 
and it may have come by way of India, from whence they 
proceeded. 

Chapter 9 

Which treats of the direction which the army took, and of how 
another more direct way might be found, if anyone was 
to return to that country. 

I very much wish that I possessed some knowledge of cos- 
mography or geography, so as to render what I wish to say 
intelligible, and so that I could reckon up or measure the ad- 
vantage those people who might go in search of that country 
would have if they went directly through the centre of the 
country, instead of following the road the army took. How- 

1 The cross is common to the Indians and always has been. It often 
is symbolic of the morning and the evening stars. Those referred to as 
having been seen by Coronado's men at Acoma were characteristic prayer- 
sticks, the downy feathers representing the breath of life. Such are still in 
common use by the Pueblo Indians. 

2 Probably dried corn-husk. 



1542] EXPEDITION OF CORONADO 385 

ever, with the help of the favor of the Lord, I will state it as 
well as I can, making it as plain as possible. 

It is, I think, already understood that the Portuguese, 
Campo, was the soldier who escaped when Friar Juan de 
Padilla was killed at Quivira, and that he finally reached New 
Spain from Panuco, 1 having travelled across the plains coun- 
try until he came to cross the North Sea mountain chain, 
keeping the country that Don Hernando de Soto discovered 
all the time on his left hand, since he did not see the river of 
the Holy Spirit (Espiritu Santo) at all. 2 After he had crossed 
the North Sea mountains, he found that he was in Panuco, so 
that if he had not tried to go to the North Sea, he would have 
come out in the neighborhood of the border land, or the coun- 
try of the Sacatecas, 3 of which we now have some knowledge. 

This way would be somewhat better and more direct for 
anyone going back there in search of Quivira, since some of 
those who came with the Portuguese are still in New Spain 
to serve as guides. Nevertheless, I think it would be best to 
go through the country of the Guachichules, 4 keeping near the 
South Sea mountains all the time, for there are more settle- 
ments and a food supply, for it would be suicide to launch 
out on to the plains country, because it is so vast and is bar- 
ren of anything to eat, although, it is true, there would not 
be much need of this after coming to the cows. This is only 
when one goes in search of Quivira, and of the villages which 
were described by the Indian called Turk, for the army of Fran- 
cisco Vazquez Coronado went the very farthest way round to get 
there, since they started from Mexico and went 110 leagues 
to the west, and then 100 leagues to the northeast, and 250 
to the north, and all this brought them as far as the ravines 
where the cows were, and after travelling 850 leagues they 
were not more than 400 leagues distant from Mexico by a 

1 The northeastern province of New Spain. 

2 That is, he travelled from the Quivira province, in the present Kansas, 
south west war dly to Mexico. 

3 Zacatecas. 

4 This wild tribe inhabited chiefly the region of the present state of San 
Luis Potosi, Mexico. They were known also as Cuachi chiles and Quachichiles. 

2c 



386 SPANISH EXPLORERS [1542 

direct route. If one desires to go to the country of Tiguex, so 
as to turn from there toward the west in search of the country 
of India, he ought to follow the road taken by the army, for 
there is no other, even if one wished to go by a different way, 
because the arm of the sea which reaches into this coast toward 
the north does not leave room for any. But what might be 
done is to have a fleet and cross this gulf and disembark in 
the neighborhood of the Island of Negroes * and enter the 
country from there, crossing the mountain chains in search 
of the country from which the people at Tiguex came, or 
other peoples of the same sort. As for entering from the coun- 
try of Florida and from the North Sea, it has already been 
observed that the many expeditions which have been under- 
taken from that side have been unfortunate and not very suc- 
cessful, because that part of the country is full of bogs and 
poisonous fruits, barren, and the very worst country that is 
warmed by the sun. But they might disembark after passing 
the river of the Holy Spirit, as Don Hernando de Soto did. 
Nevertheless, despite the fact that I underwent much labor, I 
still think that the way I went to that country is the best. 
There ought to be river courses, because the necessary sup- 
plies can be carried on these more easily in large quantities. 
Horses are the most necessary things in the new countries, 
and they frighten the enemy most. . . . Artillery is also 
much feared by those who do not know how to use it. A 
piece of heavy artillery would be very good for settlements 
like those which Francisco Vazquez Coronado discovered, in 
order to knock them down, because he had nothing but some 
small machines for slinging and nobody skilful enough to 
make a catapult or some other machine which would frighten 
them, which is very necessary. 2 

1 The dictionary of Dominguez says : " Isla de negros ; 6 isla del Almiran- 
tazgo, en el grande Oceano equinoccial ; grande isla de la America del Norte, 
sobre la costa oeste." Apparently the location of this island gradually 
drifted westward with the increase of geographical knowledge, until it was 
finally located in the Philippine group. (Winship.) 

2 This would indicate that the bronze cannon which Coronado left at 
Sia pueblo were worthless. 



1542] EXPEDITION OF CORONADO 387 

I say, then, that with what we now know about the trend 
of the coast of the South Sea, which has been followed by the 
ships which explored the western part, and what is known 
of the North Sea toward Norway, the coast of which extends 
up from Florida, those who now go to discover the country 
which Francisco Vasquez entered, and reach the country of 
Cibola or of Tiguex, will know the direction in which they 
ought to go in order to discover the true direction of the coun- 
try which the Marquis of the Valley, Don Hernando Cortes, 
tried to find, following the direction of the gulf of the Fire- 
brand (Tizon) River. 1 

This will suffice for the conclusion of our narrative. 
Everything else rests on the powerful Lord of all things, God 
Omnipotent, who knows how and when these lands will be 
discovered and for whom He has guarded this good fortune. 

Laus Deo. 

Finished copying, Saturday the 26th of October, 1596, in 
Seville. 

1 The Gulf of California (which had been navigated by Cortes) and the 
Rio Colorado. 



INDEX 



Aays, not to be confounded with Ayas, 
225 n.; Moscoso at, 243; Indians of , 
give battle, 243. See also Ayas. 

Acamor, mentioned, 126. 

Acaxes, Indians of Culiacan, 345. 

Acela, town of, 155. 

Acha, see Picuris. 

Achese, cacique of, addresses De Soto, 
166-167. 

Acochis, Indian name for gold, 314, 
337 n., 342. 

Acoma, identification of Acuco with, 
311 n.; visit of Alvarado to, 311; 
description of, 311-312; visited by 
Arellano, 316; route to, 316; men- 
tioned, 358; worship of cross at, 
384. 

Acoma Indians, water supply of, 312. 

Acosta, Maria de, wife of Pedro 
Castaneda, 276. 

Acoste, cacique of, comes to De Soto, 
180. 

Acubadaos Indians, 87. 

Acuco, see Acoma. 

Adai Indians, 76 n. 

Adobe, making of, described, 352. 

Aguacay, mentioned, 237; Moscoso 
at, 238. 

Aguar, Indian deity, 118. 

Aguas Calientes, pueblos of, 359; 
identification of, 359 n. 

Aguenes Indians, 84, 85. 

Alabama, 183 n. 

Alaniz, Hieronymo, notary, with Nar- 
vaez, 22; objects to abandonment of 
ships, 23 ; death of, 57. 

Alarcon, Diego de, confusion of, with 
Alcaraz, 324 n. 

Alarcon, Hernando de, expedition of 
by sea, 294; narrative of, 279, 
294 n.; message of, found by Diaz, 
303. 

Alarcon, Pedro de, 294 n. 

Albino, Indian, 332 n. 



Alcaraz, Diego de, meeting with Cabeza 
de Vaca, 112-113; his need of food, 
113; returns from incursion, 119; 
lieutenant of Diaz, 303, 324; in- 
efficiency of, 326; death of, 371. 

Aleman, Juan, name given Indian of 
Tiguex, 317, 321. 

Alimamos, overtakes De Soto, 177. 

Alimamu, an Indian chief, 195, 200. 

Alligators, do harm to Indians, 143; 
in rivers of New Galicia, 378. 

Almirantazgo,or Isle of Negroes, 386 n. 

Altamaca, see Altamaha. 

Altamaha, 167 n. 

Altamaha River, 167 n. 

Alvarado, Hernando de, appointed 
captain, 293; protects Coronado at 
Cibola, 301 ; expedition of, to Rio 
Grande, 311; report of, 279, 311 n.; 
visits Acoma, 311; imprisons Pecos 
chiefs, 315; route of, 316 n.; at 
Braba, 341. 

Alvarado, Pedro de, expedition of, to 
Peru, 288; deeds of, 380. 

Alvarez, death of, 6. 

Amaye, Moscoso at, 238. 

Aminoya, Spaniards hear of, 248 ; take 
quarters at, 249; brigantines built 
at, 250. 

Amushungkwa, a Jemez pueblo, 359 n. 

Anagados Indians, 71 n. 

Anane, a fruit, 140. 

Anasco, Juan de, 135; sent by De 
Soto to explore harbor in Florida, 
145; goes to Espiritu Santo, 162; 
sent in quest of habitations, 171; 
finds a town twelve leagues off, 171; 
makes road through the woods, 172; 
sent on a reconnoissance, 200, 228, 
229; advises Moscoso to put out to 
sea, 260; and does so with him, 261 ; 
meets with opposition from those 
with him, 261-262; again advises 
putting out to sea, 264. 



389 



390 



INDEX 



Anguille River, 215 n. 

Anhayca Apalache, De Soto at, 161, 
162, 164. 

Anhocan, Cabeza de Vaca at, 116. 

Anilco, 227, 228, 245, 248, 249. See 
also Nilco. 

Animals, of Apalachen, 29 ; of Florida, 
mentioned by the Gentleman of 
Elvas, 271-272. 

Anoixi, De Soto takes many inhabit- 
ants of, 222. 

Antonio de Santa Maria, Franciscan 
friar, 288. 

Antonio Victoria, friar, accident of, 
299. 

Apalache, mentioned, 161; has much 
maize, 156, 226; distance from, to 
Cutifachiqui, 188; direction and 
distance of, from Espiritu Santo, 
271, 272. See also Apalachen. 

Apalachee Indians, war against, by 
Creeks, 21 n.; by English, 21 n.; 
overcome by Cabeza de Vaca, 28; 
attack the Spaniards, 30, 31; 
eastern tribes of, 330 n.; men- 
tioned, 349 n. 

Apalachen, indicated to Narvaez as 
source of gold, 21-22; taken by the 
Spanish, 28; region of, described, 
29-30; climate of, is cold, 29; 
animals of, 29. 

Apalachicola, town on Savannah River, 
21 n. 

Appalachian Mountains, origin of 
name of, 21 n. 

Appalachee Bay, origin of name of, 
21 n. 

Aquiguate, largest town seen by De 
Soto in Florida, 214; De Soto re- 
turns to, 215; country of, described, 
215. 

Aquixo, 227, 270; direction of, 271. 

Aquixo, cacique of, comes to De Soto, 
203; loses five or six of his men, 
shot by crossbowmen, 203; and 
ten, killed by De Soto's cavalry, 
205. 

Arache, province of, 365. 

Arawakan Indians, 21; dance cere- 
mony of, 52 n. 

Arbadaos Indians, 80. 

Arche, see Harahey. 

Areitos, among Indians of Malhado, 



52; held in honor of Cabeza de 

Vaca, 89. 
Arellano, Tristan de, appointment of, 

as captain, 292; lieutenant to 

Coronado, 298, 335; at Corazones, 

301, 303; arrives at Cibola, 313; 

route of, 315 n.; at Tiguex, 317, 

339; attacks Cicuye, 341. 
Arispe, see Arizpe. 
Aristotle, quoted, 134. 
Arizpe, 347 n. 
Arkadelphia, 238 n. 
Arkansas city, 227 n. 
Arkansas Post, 226 n. 
Arkansas River, 222 n., 248 n., 249 n. 
Artillery, at Culiacan, 297; used by 

Indians, 357; usefulness of, in ex- 
ploration, 386. 
Astorga, Marquis of, learns what 

Cabeza de Vaca relates to the 

Emperor regarding New Spain, 

137. 
Astudillo, a native of Cafra, to seek 

Panuco, 49. 
Asturian, the, with Figueroa, 61, 64; 

seen by the Avavares, 79. 
Asturiano, a clergyman, 68, 69. 
Astyalakwa, a Jemez pueblo, 359 n. 
Atabalipa, lord of Peru, 135, 175. 
Atayos Indians, 76, 87. 
Atchafalaya, lower course of Red 

River, 261 n. 
Attacapan Indians, 51 n., 363 n. 
Audiencia, definition of, 285 n. 
Audiencia of Espanola, report to, 8; 

edition of report by Oviedo, 8, 10. 
Auia, island of, 49 ; probably not Mal- 
hado Island, 49 n. 
Aute, town south of Apalachen, 30, 

31; reached by Narvaez, 32. 
Autiamque, mentioned, 221, 225, 227, 

237; De Soto winters at, 222-224; 

distance to Guacay, 270; direction 

of, 271. 
Avavares Indians, receive Cabeza de 

Vaca, 73; healed by him, 6-7, 78; 

ignorant of time, 79. 
Avellaneda, killed by an Indian, 32. 
Avila, Pedro de, leader in rebellion at 

Suya, 370. 
Awatobi, Hopi pueblo, 307 n., 358 n. 
Axille, De Soto at, 161. 
Ayas, Moscoso crosses river at, 248. 



INDEX 



391 



Ayays, not to be confounded with 
Aays, 225 n.; De Soto at, 225. 

Ayllon, Governor-licentiate, death of, 
174. 

Aymay, named Socorro, 171; De Soto 
at, 172; location of, 172 n. 

Azores, mentioned, 122. 

Bacallaos, Spanish name for Newfound- 
land, 343 n., 360. 

Badthing, story of, 78-79. 

Baegert, Father Jacob, on Indians of 
lower California, 346 n. 

Bahios, 108. See also Buhios. 

Baldwyn, Mississippi, 212 n. 

Bandelier, A. F., researches on the 
Seven Cities, 287 n.; on Topira, 
290 n.; on Cicuye, 355 n. 

Bandelier, A. F. and Fanny, Journey 
of Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, cited, 
22 n.; 59, 87 n., 102 n., 103 n. 

Baracoa, town in Cuba, 142. 

Barbacoa, a store house for maize, 165. 

Barbels, native American fish, 349. 

Barrionuevo, Francisco de, com- 
panion of Coronado, 292; at 
Tiguex, 319; explorations of, 339- 
340. 

Baskett, James Newton, investiga- 
tions of, 326 n. 

Bastian, Francisco, drowning of, 
225. 

Batuco, identification of, 376 n. 

Bayamo, town in Cuba, 142, 143. 

Bayou de Vue, 215 n. 

Bayou Macon, 255 n. 

Bears, in pueblo region, 357. 

Bejar, mentioned, 125. 

Bermuda, Cabeza de Vaca at, 121. 

Bernalillo, settlement on site of 
Tiguex, 278, 317 n. 

Bidai Indians, 80 n. 

Biedma, narrative of, cited, 40 n.; 
referred to, 130 n. 

Big Bayou Meto, 225. 

Big Creek, 21, 215 n. 

Bigotes, see Whiskers. 

Birds, mentioned, 29-30, 272. 

Biscayan Indians, 115 n. 

Bison, first printed reference to, 68 n.; 
described by Cicuye Indians, 311; 
hunted by plains Indians, 330, 362, 
363; stampede of , 331 ; Coronado 's 



army supplied with meat of, 336; 

piles of bones of, 382; Castaneda's 

description of, 382-383. 
Black Warrior River, 188 n., 189 n. 
Blankets, of cotton, 350. 
Blizzard, experienced by Coronado, 

333. 
Bog of Pia, breeds mosquitos, 144. 
Boston Mountains, 221 n.; crossed by 

De Soto, 221. 
Boyomo, settlement of, 347. 
Braba, see Taos. 

Brazos River, 58 n., 244 n., 245 n. 
Bread, maize, 271; Indian, 303, 340, 

340 n. 
Bridge, built by Spaniards across 

Cicuye River, 329; Indian, across 

Rio Grande, 340. 
Brigantines, built by Spaniards at 

Aminoya, 250; become separated in 

the Gulf of Mexico, 263. 
Buffalo, see Bison. 
Buhios, Arawak word, 19, 79. See 

also Bahios. 
Burgos, Andr6 de, printer, 134, 272. 
Buriel, cloth used by Franciscan friars, 

383 n. 
Burning of Indians at stake by Span- 
iards, 320. 

Caballos, Bahia de, 37, 162 n. See 
also Horses, Bay of. 

Cabeza de Vaca, Alvar Nunez, narra- 
tive of, 1-126; birth and parent- 
age, 3; significance of name, 3; 
trades and heals among the Ind- 
ians, 6-7; line of travel, 7; charac- 
ter of his chronicle, 7; his accom- 
plishment, 8; report to Audiencia 
of Espafiola, 8; appointed governor 
of provinces of Rio de la Plata, 8; 
dies, 9; bibliography of the Relacion, 
10-11; salutation to Charles V., 12; 
duration of his wandering, 13; his 
idea of the value of his narrative, 
13; leaves San Lucar de Barrameda, 
4, 14; is treasurer and high-sheriff, 
4, 14; reaches Santo Domingo, 14; 
proceeds to Trinidad and is over- 
taken by a terrible storm, 15-17; 
passes winter at Jagua, 17; explores 
mainland of Florida, with Narvaez, 
4, 20; believes it wiser to return to 



392 



INDEX 



vessels, 22-23; refuses to sail in 
charge of them, preferring to share 
risks of march into the country, 24; 
goes with forty men to seek a har- 
bor, 25-26; enters Apalachen, 28; 
goes from Aute to find the sea, 33; 
embarks in open boat, 36; suffer- 
ings of his men, 38-40; is assaulted 
by Indians, 41 ; deserted by Narvaez, 
42 ; lands on an island among friendly 
Indians, 5, 44-45 ; loses three men, in 
endeavor to re-embark, 46; desti- 
tute condition of the survivors, 46; 
aid given by Indians, 47-48; is 
overtaken by Dorantes and Alonzo 
del Castillo, 48; agrees that four of 
the party shall try to reach Panuco, 
49; learns Indians believe the 
Christians are sorcerers, 50; names 
island Malhado, 50; heals the sick 
by breathing on them, and by 
prayer, 53; on the mainland, 52, 55; 
his party now numbers fourteen, 55 ; 
suffers great hardships, 56 ; trafficks 
among the Indians, 56-57; rescues 
Oviedo from Malhado, 57; is left 
by him, 59; finds Dorantes, Castillo, 
and Estevanico, 59-60; waits six 
months before attempting to escape, 
60, 61, 70; is made a slave, 61; is 
forced to postpone escape another 
year, 71; succeeds at last, 73; 
works more cures among the Ind- 
ians, 74, 77, 78; goes naked, 80, 81; 
goes among the Maliacones, 80; 
eats dogs, 80, 81; barters with 
Indians, 81; performs more cures, 
91; reaches a mountainous coun- 
try, 92; receives presents from the 
Indians, 92-93; cuts an arrow 
head out of a wounded native, 96- 
97; reaches the Rio Grande, 99; 
is feared by the Indians because of 
deaths among them, 101; heals the 
sick, 101 ; goes among the Jumanos, 
102; calls them the Cow nation, 
103; starts in search of maize, 105; 
touches and blesses both sick and 
well, 106-107; teaches Christian 
religion, 107; finds news of Chris- 
tians, 109; checks fear among his 
Indian companions, 111; is taken 
to Diego de Alcaraz, 112; joins 



party of Diego and dismisses 
his Indian followers, 114-115; 
is received by Melchior Diaz, 
116; arrives at Mexico, 120; at 
Havana, 121; at Lisbon, 123; men- 
tioned as a survivor of Narvaez 's 
party, 125; disagrees with De Soto, 
136; mentioned by the Gentleman 
of Elvas, 136, 221, 246; returns 
from expedition, 288; narrative of, 
288; in Corazones valley, 301; 
traces of, found by Coronado, 332; 
regard of Indians for, 381 n. 

Cabeza de Vaca, Teresa, mother of 
Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, 3, 125. 

Cabo Cruz, 15 n. 

Cabo de Santa Cruz, 15. 

Cabusto, 194. 

Cacabe bread, see Cassava bread. 

Cache River, 215 n. 

Cactus belt, northern limit of, 70 n. 

Cahita, synonymous with Sinaloa, 
346 n. 

Cahoques Indians, 87. 

Calahuchi, 161 n. 

Calderon, Captain, 155; at Espiritu 
Santo, 162 ; commands a brigantine, 
265. 

Cale, province of, reported to be abun- 
dant in gold, 154; mentioned, 162. 

California, Gulf of, 109 n.; explored, 
304, 346; natives of peninsula of, 
346, 346 n. 

Caliquen, reached by De Soto, 157. 

Calpista, mentioned by Ranjel, 
216 n. 

Caluca, in northeastern part of Missis- 
sippi, 212. 

Camolas Indians, 87 n. 

Camones Indians, are reported to have 
killed Penalosa and Tellez, 72. 

Campo, Andres del, Portuguese com- 
panion of Padilla, 365, 373, 385; 
returns to New Spain, 385. 

Canarreo shoals, 18. 

Canasagua, De Soto at, 178. 

Caney creek, 58 n. 

Cannibalism in Culiacan, 345. 

Cannouchee River, 170 n. 

Cantaloupes, as food of Indians, 348. 

Capachiqui, De Soto at, 165. 

Capoques Indians, 54 n., 55 n., 65 n.,. 
66 n., 87 n. 



INDEX 



393 



Capothan, province of New Spain, 364. 

Caravallo, appointed lieutenant to sail 
with ships of Narvaez, 24; men- 
tioned, 124. 

Cardenas, Garcia Lopez, appointed 
captain, 292; protects Coronado at 
Cibola, 301; visit of, to Colorado 
River, 309; attacks Indian village, 
319; treachery of Indians towards, 
321; accident to, 331; summoned 
to Spain, 367; flight of, from Suya, 
369, 370. 

Carlos, leaves his wife at Havana, 145; 
is killed at Manilla, 193. 

Carmona, Alonzo de, 131. 

Casa de Contratacion, at Seville, 135 n. 

Cases, with dead bodies, burned by 
Xuarez, 21. 

Casiste, De Soto at, 187. 

Casqui, cacique of, 205; speeches of, 
to De Soto, 206-207; kneels before 
the cross, 208; directs De Soto to 
Pacaha, 208; makes many presents 
to De Soto, 210; gives his daughter 
to the governor, 211; begs forgive- 
ness for absenting himself without 
permission, 212; accepts friendship 
of the cacique of Pacaha, 212. 

Cassava bread, 144, 145. 

Castaneda, Pedro de, narrative of 
Coronado's expedition by, 276, 281- 
387; facts of life of, 276; value of 
narrative of, 276; manuscript of, in 
Lenox library, 277 ; translations of, 
276-277; date of narrative, 282 n.; 
joins expedition at Culiacan, 296 n. 

Castile, mentioned, 124. 

Castillo, Doctor, father of Alonzo de 
Castillo Maldonado, 125. 

Castillo Maldonado, Alonzo del, with 
Cabeza de Vaca, 4, 6 ; joins in report 
to Audiencia of Espanola, 8; re- 
turns to New Spain, 9; goes with 
Cabeza de Vaca to find a harbor, 26 ; 
again goes on the same errand, 33; 
embarks in open boat, 36; loses his 
boat and overtakes Cabeza de Vaca, 
48; on the mainland, 54; returns 
to Malhado, 55; accompanies Ind- 
ians to find walnuts, and meets with 
Cabeza de Vaca, 59-60 ; stay of, 
with the Yguazes, 65; mentioned, 
72; mentioned by Oviedo, 69, 70; 



among Lanegados, 71; escapes, 73; 
cures afflicted Indians, 74, 76, 77; 
goes to the Maliacones, 80; makes 
reconnoissance towards Rio Grande, 
102; finds evidence of visit by 
Europeans, 109; rejoins Cabeza de 
Vaca and attaches himself to a 
Spanish exploring party, 113; re- 
turns to Spain, 125; mentioned by 
Castaneda, 288. 

Catalte, 236. 

Catamaya, De Soto at, 222. 

Caya River, 216. 

Cayas, De Soto at, 217, 219; men- 
tioned, 225, 227, 238; cacique of, 
is dismissed, 221. 

Cebreros, see Zebreros. 

Cedar Lake, 58 n. 

Cerda, Alvaro de la, left by Narvaez in 
charge of a vessel, 18, 20. 

Cervantes, Spanish soldier, 328. 

Chacan, a fruit, 104. 

Chaguate, province of, mentioned, 223 
n., 236; cacique of, addresses Mos- 
coso, 237. 

Chaguete, 237; Indians come to, in 
peace, 247; Moscoso leaves, 248. 
See also Chaguate. 

Chalaque, province of, 176. 

Charles V, emperor, 12 n. 

Charruco, Cabeza de Vaca determines 
to seek, 56. 

Charrucos Indians, 87 n. 

Chattahuchi, 161 n. 

Chattanooga, 181 n., 182 n. 

Chauauares Indians, 87 n. See Chava- 
vares Indians. 

Chavavares Indians, 73 n., 80 n., 87. 

Chia, see Sia. 

Chiaha, province of, 175, 177, 178; na- 
ture of the country of, 270; speech 
of cacique of, 178; cacique of, 
surrenders himself to De Soto, 180. 

Chiametla, death of Samaniego at, 295. 

Chicaca, De Soto at, 195, 212 n.; Ind- 
ians of, make an attack, 197-199. 

Chicacilla, 199 n. 

Chichilticalli, visited by Fray Marcos, 
289; by Diaz, 298; location of, 
299 n., 349 n.; Coronado's first 
view of, 299; description of, 349. 

Chichimecas, Mexican name for braves, 
357. 



394 



INDEX 



Chicot County, Arkansas, 255 n. 

Chihuahua, 105 n. 

Chilano, mentioned, 249. 

Childersburg, 183 n. 

Children of sun, Spaniards called, 94. 

China, belief in its connection with 
America, 343, 360. 

Chisca, a gold-bearing country, 180, 
181,212; mentioned, 205. 

Choctaw Indians, 38 n. 

Cholupaha, town of, 157; called Villa- 
farta, 157. 

Choualla, see Xualla. 

Christianity, taught to the Indians, 
107, 117; churches to be built by 
them, 119. 

Churches, to be built by Indians, 119. 

Chuse, Bay of, 40 n. 

Cibola, reached by expedition of Fray 
Marcos, 275, 289; Guzman's expe- 
dition to, 286; description of, 300; 
captured by Coronado, 301; army 
arrives at, 306 ; Castaneda's descrip- 
tion of, 350; pueblos of, 358. 

Cicuyc, see Cicuye. 

Cicuye, synonymous with Pecos, 329 n. 
See Pecos. 

Cienfuegos, Bay of, 17 n. 

Civet-marten skins described by Ca- 
beza de Vaca, 39. 

Clark, on Indian sign language, 363 n. 

Clark County, 238 n. 

Cleburne County, 216 n. 

Clothing of Indians, 318, 334, 347, 350, 
355. 

Coahuiltecan affinities, 61 n. 

Coayos Indians, 76. 

Coca, province of, 170, 175, 228; speech 
of cacique of, 183-184; inhabitants 
of, seized by De Soto, 184; cacique of, 
taken, 185; is dismissed, 187; dis- 
tance to Tastaluca, 189; has more 
maize than Nilco, 226; nature of 
the country, 270; direction of, 271. 

Cocopa Indians, a Yuman tribe, 
303 n. 

Cocos Indians, 54 n. 

Cofaqui, 168. 

Cofitachequi, see Cutifachiqui. 

Cohani Indians, 59 n. 

Coke" Indians, 54 n. 

Coles, Juan, 131. 

Coligoa, De Soto at, 215-2 J6; dis- 



tance to Autiamque, 270; nature of 
the country, 270. 

Colima, ravines of, 332. 

Colorado River, 58 n., 90 n.; visited 
by Diaz, 303; by Cardenas, 309. 

Comos Indians, 80 n., 87. 

Compostela, in a hostile country, 120; 
mentioned, 285 n., 287; rendezvous 
of Coronado 's army, 293; departure 
of Coronado from, 295. 

Comupatrico, settlement of, 347. 

Cona, settlement of plains Indians, 333. 

Coosa, 183 n. 

Copee, used in paying the bottoms of 
Moscoso's vessels, 263. 

Copper, found at Quivira, 337. 

Coquite, pueblo of, 356 n., 358 n. 

Corazones, Pueblo de los, 108, 115 n.; 
Coronado 's army at, 301; valley of, 
347; friendliness of Indians of, 372, 
376. See Hearts, town of. 

Corn, description of, 350; method of 
grinding, 354; stores of, kept by 
Indians, 356. See also Maize. 

Coronado, Francisco Vazquez de, on 
Stake Plains, 7; expedition inspired 
by journey of Cabeza de Vaca, 8; 
memoirs of George P. Winship on, 
276-277; bibliography of accounts 
of expedition of, 277-279; Casta- 
neda's narrative of expedition of, 
276, 281-387; testimony of com- 
panions of, 279; expedition of, 
mentioned, 97 n., 284, 362 n.; 
appointed governor of New Galicia, 
287 ; marriage of, 287 ; accompanies 
Fray Marcos to Culiacan , 288 ; makes 
expedition to Topira, 290; returns 
to Mexico, 29 1 ; friendship of Mendoza 
for, 291; receives command from 
Mendoza, 275, 281, 291 ; Castaneda's 
criticism of, 291, 293; appointments 
confirmed by, 292; departure of, 
from Compostela, 295; receives 
report of Diaz, at Chiametla, 296; 
at Culiacan, 297-298; Truxillo 
brought before, 298; arrives at 
Chichilticalli, 299; discouragement 
of, 299; reaches Cibola, 300; letter 
to Mendoza, 277, 300 n.; attacks 
Cibola, 300; wounded at Cibola 
301 ; mention of, 294, 302, 305, 319 
finds horn of mountain goat, 306 



INDEX 



395 



joined by Arellano, 306; sends 
Tovar to Tusayan, 307 ; sends Car- 
denas to Colorado River, 308; re- 
ceives report of Cardenas, 310; gifts 
to, from Cicuye Indians, 311; sends 
Alvarado to Cicuye, 311; receives 
message from Alvarado, 312; de- 
parture of, for Tiguex, 313; arrives 
at Tutahaco, 314; at Tiguex, 314; 
sends Alvarado to Cicuye, 315; 
joined by army, 317; demands cloth 
of Indians, 317-318; gives Cardenas 
orders to attack Indians, 319 ; orders 
of, concerning prisoners, 320; be- 
sieges Tiguex, 322; attempts of, to 
make peace, 323; receives news of 
death of Diaz, 325; sends Tovar to 
San Hieronimo, 326; messengers 
from, to Mendoza, 326 ; letter of, to 
king, 278, 329 n. ; pacifies Cicuye, 329 ; 
departure of, for Quivira, 329 ; bison 
seen by, 330, 331 ; experiences bliz- 
zard, 333; divides army, 335; 
arrives at Quivira, 336; route of, 
337 n.; returns from Quivira, 338; 
crosses route of De Soto, 339 ; reaches 
Cicuye and Tiguex, 342; winters at 
Tiguex, 342, 366; receives letters 
from Mendoza, 367; accident to, 
368; schemes of, to return home, 
369; request of soldiers to, 370; 
preparations of, for return, 372, 373; 
arrives at Cibola, 374; meets Gal- 
lego with re-enforcements, 375 ; feigns 
illness, 376, 377; at Culiacan, 377; 
promises of, 378; returns to Mexico, 
378 ; reports to Mendoza, 378 ; cool- 
ness of Mendoza towards, 378; de- 
prived of governorship of New 
Galicia, 378; route of, 385; inade- 
quacy of equipment of, 386. 

Coronado expedition, memoirs of 
George Parker Winship on, 276- 
277; Castaneda's narrative of, 276, 
281-387; bibliography of other 
accounts of, 277-280; importance 
of, 280; date of, 293 n.; reasons 
given by Mota Padilla for failure 
of, 366 n. 

Corral, death of, 49. 

Corrientes, Cape, storm at, 18. 

Cortes, Hernando, receives Cabeza de 
Vaca, 121; mentioned, 283; trial for 



murder of wife, 285 n.; given new 
title, 286 n.; feats of, 380. 

Corvo, mentioned, 122 n. 

Coste, speech of cacique of, 182. 

Cotton, garments of, presented to 
Cabeza de Vaca, 104; noted by 
him, 106 ; cloth of, made at Tusayan, 
308; blankets of, 350. 

Council Bend, suggested as the place 
of De Soto's crossing of the Missis- 
sippi, 204 n. 

Cow nation, Indians so named by 
Cabeza de Vaca, 103. See Jumanos 
Indians. 

Cows, see Bison. 

Creek Indians, 21 n. 

Cremation among Zufii, 351. 

Cross, raised at Casqui, 208; sign of, 
among the Zunis, 351; venerated 
by Indians, 384. 

Cruz, Bahia de la, 36. See also Tampa 
Bay. 

Cuachichiles, see Guachichules. 

Cuba, De Soto in, 141-145. 

Cuchendados Indians, 86. 

Cuenca de Huete, mentioned, 124. 

Culiacan, mentioned, 115 n.; Cabeza 
de Vaca at, 116. 

Culiacan, San Miguel de, foundation 
of, by Guzman, 276, 286, 344; 
arrival of Cabeza de Vaca at, 288; 
location of, 296 n.; Castaneda's 
description of, 344; return of Coro- 
nado to, 377. 

Cultalchulches Indians, 76, 78, 80 n., 87. 

Cures among Indians wrought by 
Cabeza de Vaca, 6-7, 53, 73, 74, 76, 
77, 78, 91, 101, 106-107, 117; by 
Alonzo del Castillo, 74, 76, 77. 

Cushing, F. H., on Zufii breadstuff, 
354 n. 

Cutifachiqui, 172 n., 178, 180; Ind- 
ians of, 173-174; speech of kins- 
woman of the cacica of, 172-173; 
speech of cacica of, 173 ; cacica of, 
furnishes pearls, 174 ; cacica of, is 
made a slave, 176; escape of cacica 
of, 177; distance of, to Xualla, 188, 
270 ; lad of, acts as interpreter, 224 ; 
nature of the country of, 270 ; direc- 
tion of, 271. 

Cuyamunque, a Tewa pueblo, 359 n. 

Cuzco, city of, 135. 



396 



INDEX 



Dances of the Tahus, 344. 

Daniel, Franciscan friar, 288. 

Da vila, Pedr arias, governor, 135, 136. 

Davis, W. W. H., on the fate of 
Padilla, 373 n. 

Daycao, distance of, to Rio Grande, 247 ; 
direction of, 271. 

Daycao River, 245, 246. 

Dead bodies, eaten by members of 
party with Cabeza de Vaca, 49; 
Soto-Mayor eaten by Esquivel, 63. 

Deaguanes Indians, 59. 

Decubadaos Indians, 87 n. 

Deer, 350, 363. 

Deer-suet, 105. 

Deguenes Indians, 87 n. 

Descalona, Fray Luis, settles at 
Cicuye, 365 n., 373. 

Desha County, 227 n., 249 n. 

Diaz, Melchior, 116 n.; explains to 
the natives the coming of Cabeza 
de Vaca, 117; reports of Fray 
Marcos investigated by, 277, 296; 
companion of Coronado, 292; posi- 
tion of, 292; reference to, 299; in 
command at Corazones, 302, ex- 
ploration of, 303, 324; death of, 325. 

Divorce among Indians, 353. 

Dogs, eaten by De Soto's men, 167; 
used by Indians, 330, 334, 362. 

Doguenes Indians, 59 n., 84, 87. 

Dorantes, Pablo, father of Andres 
Dorantes, 125. 

Dorantes de Carranca, Andres, with 
Cabeza de Vaca, 4, 6; joins in re- 
port to Audiencia of Espanola, 8; 
later years and death of, 9 ; goes to 
find the sea, 33; embarks in open 
boat, 36; repulses Indians, 39; 
loses his boat and overtakes Cabeza 
de Vaca, 48; on the mainland, 54, 
55; returns to Malhado, 55; accom- 
panies Indians to find walnuts and 
meets with Cabeza de Vaca, 59-60 ; 
escapes from slavery, 64; escapes 
from the Yguazes, 65; mentioned 
by Oviedo, 69, 70; joins Cabeza de 
Vaca in escape from Indians, 71, 73; 
mentioned, 72; performs cures 
among Avavares, 78; goes to the 
Maliacones, 80 ; receives a hawk-bell 
of copper, 95; is presented with 
over six hundred open hearts of 



deer, 108; rejoins Cabeza de Vaca 
and attaches himself to a Spanish 
exploring party, 113; returns to 
Spain, 121, 125; swears not to 
divulge certain things he has seen 
in New Spain, 136; a survivor of 
Narvaez's expedition, 288; traces 
of, found by Coronado, 332. 

Dorantes, Diego, killed by Indians, 58, 
64, 69. 

Double Mountain fork, 245 n. 

Dragoon pass, location of, 349 n. 

Dreams, respected by the Indians, 64; 
citation from Oviedo regarding, 70. 

Dulchanchellin, Indian chief, 27. 

Eagles, tame, kept by Indians, 348, 
348 n. 

Earthquakes, near Colorado River, 325. 

Elvas, Gentleman of, narrative by, 
127-272; may have been Alvaro 
Fernandez, 130; related narra- 
tives, 130-131; bibliography of the 
Narrative, 131-132. 

Emeralds presented to Cabeza de Vaca, 
106, 108. 

Enequen, used in making rope, 248. 

Enriquez, Alonso, comptroller of 
Narvaez's fleet, 14; lands on island 
off Florida coast, 19; joins con- 
ferences regarding inland explora- 
tion, 22; embarks with Xuarez in 
open boat, 36 ; boat of, found bottom 
up, 61; rescued by Narvaez and 
loses his commission, 62; is cast 
away on the coast, 72 ; is mentioned 
by Oviedo, 70. 

Espejo, Antonio de, on the Rio Grande, 
7; cited, 102 n.; Mexican Indians 
at Cibola found by, 374 n. 

Espiritu Santo, Bay, 58 n.; men- 
tioned by Oviedo, 70. 

Espiritu Santo, port, 153; adjacent 
country described, 169; distance to 
Palache, 188; direction from Apa- 
lache, 271; distance to Ocute, 270; 
land between the two places, 270; 
direction to Apalache and Rio de 
las Palmas, 272. 

Espiritu Santo River identified with 
Mississippi, 339 n. 

Esquivel, Hernando de, among Ind- 
ians, 62; informs Figueroa of fate 



INDEX 



397 



of Narvaez and the others, 62-63; 
feeds on flesh of Soto-Mayor, 63; 
is slain because of a dream, 58, 64, 
68; mentioned, 72; mentioned by 
Oviedo, 70. 

Estevanico, with Cabeza de Vaca, 4, 
6; with Fray Marcos de Niza, 9; 
put to death by Zunis, 9; brought 
by Indians, with Dorantes and 
Castillo, and meets with Cabeza de 
Vaca, 59 ; stay of, with the Yguazes, 
65; escapes from Indians, 71, 73; 
performs cures among Avavares, 78; 
goes to the Maliacones, 80; cause of 
death of, 95 n.; accompanies Alonzo 
de Castillo on reconnoissance towards 
Rio Grande, 102; is useful in 
securing information from the Ind- 
ians, 107; accompanies Cabeza de 
Vaca in search of Spanish exploring 
party, 112; acts as guide, 113; 
mentioned as a survivor of Narvaez 's 
party, 126, 288; guide for Fray 
Marcos, 275, 288-289; death of, 
275, 290. 

Estrada, Alonzo de, treasurer for New 
Spain, 287. 

Estremadura, 216, 341. 

Estufas, at Braba, 341 ; at Cibola, 350, 
350 n.; description of, 353. 

Evora, 272. 

Feathers, trade in, 286; use of, in 
dress, 350; symbolism of, 384 n. 

Ferdinand, king of Spain, 287. 

Fernandes, Benito, drowned, 166. 

Fernandez, Alvaro, a Portuguese sailor 
to seek Panuco, 49. 

Fernandez, Alvaro, may have been the 
Gentleman of Elvas, 130. 

Fernandez, Bartolome, sailor, 22. 

Fewkes, Aborigines of Porto Rico, 
cited, 19 n. 

Fifteen-Mile Bayou, 205 n. 

Figueroa, a native of Toledo, to seek 
Panuco, 49; found by the fugitives 
from Malhado, 58 n., 61; relates his 
experiences, 62-63, 68; escapes by 
flight, 64; seen by the Avavares, 79. 

Figueroa, Gomez Suarez de, com- 
panion of Coronado, 293. 

Figueroa, Vasco Porcallo de, see 
Porcallo de Figueroa, Vasco. 



Firebrand, use of, by Indians in travel- 
ling, 303. 

Firebrand River, see Colorado. 

Fish, taken by De Soto, 209-210. 

Fisher County, Texas, 245 n. 

Fleet of Narvaez, size of, 14; visited 
by hurricane on southern coast of 
Cuba, 3-4, 15-17; brigantine bought 
in Trinidad, 18 ; another vessel pur- 
chased, 18. 

Flint River, 164 n. 

Florida, eastern limit of grant to 
Narvaez, 3, 14; fleet of Narvaez 
sights, 18; grains, fruits, and nuts 
of, 271; bad character of country 
of, 386. 

Flowers, use of, in Indian ceremonials, 
384. 

Food of Indians, 312, 333, 348, 354. 

Fort Belknap, 244 n., 245 n. 

Fort Prince George, 176 n. 

Fort Smith, 222 n. 

Fowls, domestic, among the Indians, 
348, 354. 

Franciscans, with Narvaez, 14; in 
Cuba, 142; in New Spain, 288; elect 
Marcos de Niza father provincial, 291 . 

Fruits of Florida, 271 ; of the great 
plains, 364. 

Fuentes, De Soto's chamberlain, con- 
demned to death, 197. 

Galena, 96 n. 

Galeras, Juan, explores Grand Cafion, 
309. 

Galicia, New Kingdom of, in New 
Spain, 285 n., 286. 

Galisteo, pueblo of, 356, 358 n. 

Gallego, Juan, companion of Coronado, 
292; messenger from Coronado to 
Mendoza, 302; sword of, found in 
Kansas, 302 n.; messenger to 
Coronado, 371, 372; meets Coronado 
on his return, 375; exploits of, 380. 

Gallegos, Baltasar de, is chief castellan, 
138 ; leaves his wife at Havana, 146 ; 
at the town of Ucita, 147; sent into 
the country, 148; returns with a 
survivor of the party of Narvaez, 
149; is sent to the province of 
Paracoxi, 154; hears speech on 
part of the absent cacique, asks 
where gold may be found, 154; sent 



398 



INDEX 



in quest of habitations, 171; in 

affray with Indians at Mauilla, 190; 

responds to De Soto's dying speech, 

233. 
Galveston Island, resembles Malhado, 

in certain particulars, 57 n. 
Gamez, Juan de, killed at Mauilla, 193. 
Gay tan, Juan, takes an Indian boy of 

Yupaha, 164. 
Giant Indians, 302, 304. 
Gibraleon, mentioned, 125. 
Gifts, exchange of, on Cabeza de 

Vaca's line of march, 97 n. 
Giralda, great tower of Seville, 309 n. 
Giusiwa, a Jemez pueblo, 359 n. 
Goat, mountain, seen by Spaniards, 

304, 305, 348. 
Gold, sought by the Spaniards, 21-22, 

145, 154, 164, 180, 181, 205, 212; 

traces of, found, 19, 21, 111; tales 

of, at Quivira, 328, 329; discovered 

at Suya, 371. 
Gomera, one of the Canary Islands, 

139. 
Gorbalan, Francisco, companion of 

Coronado, 293. 
Government of Indians, 308, 347, 351. 
Granada, Coronado 's name for Ha- 

wikuh, 277, 300 n. 
Grand or Neosho River, 217 n. 
Grand Canon, discovery of, 309. 
Grande River, 201, 202, 205, 208, 209, 

215, 224, 227, 245, 246, 247, 248, 

249, 270, 271. See also Mississippi 

River. 
Grapes, wild, found by Coronado, 334, 

338. 
Graves, at Tutahaco, 384. 
Great plains, Spaniards lost on, 336; 

description of, 362. 
Great River, the, 202. See Mississippi 

River and Grande River. 
Greene County, Alabama, 189 n. 
Grey Friars, origin of name, 385 n. 
Guacay, distance of, to Daycao, 270- 

271; nature of the country, 271. 
Guachichules, Indians, 385. 
Guachoya, De Soto reaches, 227; 

cacique of, comes to him, 227; 

makes an address, 228; and assists 

in attack of Nilco, 231; death of 

De Soto at, 233; Spaniards leave, 

236; mentioned, 245, 248; cacique 



of, plots against Moscoso, 251 ; ex- 
poses plot of caciques of Nilco and 
Taguanate, 252 ; and kills Indians of 
Nilco, 252; direction of, 271. 

Guadalajara, beginning of, 285 n., 287. 

Guadalaxara, see Guadalajara. 

Guadiana, Spanish river, 341. 

Guaes, province near Quivira, 328, 
328 n., 364. 

Guahate, province, mentioned, 222. 

Guaniguanico, storm at, 18. 

Guasco, see Waco. 

Guatemala, conquered by Alvarado, 
380. 

Guaxulle, De Soto at, 177; mentioned, 
178. 

Guayaba tree, 141. 

Guaycones Indians, 87. 

Guaymas Indians, 108 n. 

Guevara, Diego de, captures Indian 
village, 324. 

Guevara, Juan de, appointment of 
son of, 292. 

Guevara, Pedro de, appointed captain, 
292. 

Guevenes Indians, 59 n. 

Gutierres, Diego, appointed captain, 
292. 

Gutierrez, Juan, see Xuarez, Juan, 
and 14 n. 

Guzman, Diego de, 111. 

Guzman, Francisco de, goes away with 
his Indian concubine, 238. 

Guzman, Juan de, made captain of 
infantry, 164; crosses Mississippi 
with infantry, 204; sent against 
Indians, 231, 256; is taken by 
them, 257. 

Guzman, Nufio de, position of, in 
New Spain, 285; career of, 285 n.; 
cruelty to natives, 285 n.; expedi- 
tion of, to the Seven Cities, 286 ; Cu- 
liacan settled by, 276, 287; imprison- 
ment of, 287. 

Hacanac, cacique of, gives battle, 239. 
Hailstones, in Coronado's camp, 333. 
Hair dress, of pueblo women, 350. 
Halona, Zuni pueblo, 358 n.; exca- 
vations at, 351 n. 
Hano, Hopi pueblo, 358 n. 
Hans Indians, 54, 87. 
Hapaluya, De Soto passes, 160. 



INDEX 



399 



Harahey, identification of, 328 n., 
365 n. 

Havana, fleet of Narvaez nears, 18; 
Miruelo to return to, if harbor is 
not found, 20; Cabeza de Vaca at, 
121, 122; mentioned, 125, 142. 

Hawikuh, scene of Estevan's death, 
275; called Granada by Coronado, 
277, 300 n.; history of, 300 n., 
358 n. 

Haxa or Haya, settlement near Missis- 
sippi River, 330, 331. 

Hearts, town of, 7, 108 n. See Cora- 
zones, Pueblo de los. 

Hearts of animals, as food, 301. 

Hearts Valley, see Corazones. 

Hemes, see Jemez. 

Hempstead County, 240 n. 

Henry, cardinal, archbishop of Evora, 
272. 

Hermosillo, 109 n. 

Hewett, on Pecos, 355 n. 

Hirriga, town of Ucita, 147 n. 

Hodge, F. W., 11, 280; on route of 
Coronado, 337 n. 

Hope, camp near, 239 n. 

Hopi, tribal name of Indians at 
Tusayan, 307 n. ; as cotton growers, 
308 n.; pottery of, 340 n.; tame 
eagles of, 348 n.; hair dress of 
women, 350 n.; population of 
pueblos of, 351 n. ; pueblos of, 358 n. 

Hornachos, mentioned, 124. 

Hornaday, W. T., on wool of bison, 
383 n. 

Horseflesh, eaten by Spaniards, 27, 
35, 36, 253. 

Horses, Bay of, 37 n., 162 n. See 
also Caballeros, Bahia de. 

Horses, fear of Indians of, 386. 

Houses of Indians, 165, 346, 350, 356, 
364. 

Huelva, Diego de, killed by Indians, 
58, 64. 

Huhasene, an Indian chief, 255. 

Iguaces Indians, 61 n. 

Inca, the, see Vega, Garcilaso de la. 

India, believed to be connected with 

America, 343, 360. 
Indian Bay, 253 n. 
"Indian giving," 100 n. 
Indians, stature and proportions of, 32 ; 



fine archery of, 32; customs of, at 
Malhado, 54; weeping of, 54 n.; 
as a sign of obedience, 241, 242- 
243; barter among, 56-57; sub- 
sist on walnuts, 59-60; eat prickly 
pears three months of the year, 60- 
61; kill even their male children, 
64, 70; have great reverence for 
dreams, 70; call Spaniards children 
of the sun, 78; marriage relations 
of, 83; methods of warfare of, 84- 
86; nations and tongues of, beyond 
Malhado, 86; peculiar customs of, 
in drinking a tea of certain leaves, 
87-88; method of, in preparing 
flour of mesquite, 89 ; plunder those 
who welcome Cabeza de Vaca, 91, 
92; and plunder one another, 97; 
rabbit hunts of, 98; eat spiders and 
worms, 98; offer all they have to 
Cabeza de Vaca, 99 ; women of, may 
negotiate in war, 100, 102; chastise 
children for weeping, 101; have 
fixed dwellings, 102; go naked, 103; 
eat powder of straw, 106; languages 
of, 107; believe Spaniards are from 
heaven, 107; women of, wear grass 
and straw, 108; worship the sun, 
107-108; promise to be Christians, 
118; and to build churches, 119; 
worship the devil with blood sacri- 
fices , 1 5 1 ; approach , playing on flutes, 
158, 183, 189; costumes of, 166; have 
abundance of meat at Ocute, 168; 
description of, at Cutifachiqui, 173- 
174; mortuary customs of, 234, 351 ; 
described by the Gentleman of Elvas, 
272; use poisoned arrows, 326, 371. 

Intoxication, among Indians, 66. 

Iron, 93 n., 95 n. 

Isleta, 358 n. 

Jacona, 359 n. 

Jagua, Cabeza de Vaca at, 17 n.; 

Narvaez reaches with a pilot, 18. 
Jaramillo, Juan, narrative of, 279, 

337 n., 365 n. 
Jefferson County, 225 n. 
Jemez, pueblos of, 339 n., 352, 359 n.; 

visited by Barrionuevo, 339. 
Jerez de la Frontera, 3. 
John III., king, 272 n. 
Juamanos Indians, 102 n., 103 n.; 



400 



INDEX 



know something of Christianity, 
102 n. ; the Cow nation, 103 ; 
method of cooking among, 104-105 ; 
have fixed residences, 112. 
Juana, Queen of Spain, 292. 

Kansas, description of, 364. 
Karankawan Indians, 51 n., 57 n., 

61 n. 
Kaw or Kansa Indians, 328 n., 364 n. 
Kiakima, Zufii pueblo, 358 n. 
Kyanawe, Zufii pueblo, 358 n. 

Lacane, Moscoso at, 242. 

Lake Michigamia, 214 n. 

Lakes, near Apalachen, 29. 

Lanegados Indians, hold Castillo cap- 
tive, 71. 

Lara, Alonso Manrique de, companion 
of Coronado, 293. 

Las Navas de Tolosa, battle of, 3. 

La Vaca, Bay, 58 n. 

League, Spanish, 22 n. 

Lee County, Arkansas, 214 n. 

Lenox Library, manuscript of Casta- 
neda in, 277. 

Leopard, see Wildcat. 

Lewis, T. Hayes, 132. 

Lions, see Mountain lions. 

Lisbon, 123. 

Little Red River, 216 n. 

Little River, 240 n. 

Little Tennessee River, 177 n. 

Little Valley, settlement of, 347. 

Llano River, 95 n. 

Lobillo, Juan Rodriguez, at court, 135; 
sent by De Soto into the country, 
148; returns with four Indian 
women, 149 ; sent in quest of habita- 
tions, 171; overtakes De Soto, 172. 

Lopez, Diego, death of, 49. 

Lopez, Diego, appointed captain, 292; 
succeeds Samaniego, 296 ; adventure 
of, at Tiguex, 319; visits Haxa, 331. 

Lopez de Cardenas, G., see Cardenas. 

Lowery, Woodbury, Spanish Settle- 
ments, 1513-1561, cited, 19 n. 

Luis, Friar, see Descalona. 

Lusitanians, characterized, 134. 

Mabila, see Mauilla. 

Macaco, 150 n. 

Macanoche, presented to De Soto, 213. 



Macaque, see Matsaki. 

McGee, W J, account of Seri Indians, 
301 n. 

Magdalena River, 33. 

Mago, a poisonous tree, 108 n. 

Maize, shown by Indians to Narvaez, 
21; found under cultivation, 22, 
25; little seen by Cabeza de Vaca 
on march to Apalachen, 28; is 
found growing in that place, 28, 29; 
secured with difficulty from Indians, 
35; mentioned, 94, 96, 102, 103, 
104, 105, 108, 110, 113, 114, 247, 
248, 271. See also Corn. 

Malapaz, town, 156. 

Maldonado, Dona Aldonga, 125. 

Maldonado, Alonzo del Castillo, see 
Castillo Maldonado, Alonzo del. 

Maldonado, Francisco, ordered to the 
coast, 163; sent to Havana, 163; 
at Ochuse, 193; mentioned, 175, 
204. 

Maldonado, Rodrigo, appointed cap- 
tain, 292; visits seacoast, 301; 
Indians attack camp of, 323; re- 
ceives gift of buffalo skins, 332; 
horse of, injures Coronado, 368. 

Malhado Island, Spaniards at, 5-6; 
named by Cabeza de Vaca, 50; 
identification of, 57 n.; Christians 
leave, losing a part of their number, 
61; mentioned, 72. 

Maliacones Indians, 80, 87. See also 
Malicones Indians. 

Malicones Indians, 76 n. See also 
Maliacones Indians. 

Mallery, Garrick, on sign language, 
363 n. 

Mallets, use of, as weapons by Indians, 
321. 

Mamei, a fruit, 141. 

Mancano, is lost, 186. 

Mantelets of thread, found at Apala- 
chen, 28. 

Marcos, Fray, see Niza. 

Margaridetos, a kind of bead, 226. 

Mariames Indians, kill even their male 
children and cast away their daugh- 
ters, 64; mentioned, 87. 

Marian Indians, 61. 

Marjoram, wild, 338, 349, 364. 

Marquis, Isle of the, name of, given to 
lower California, 304, 304 n. 



INDEX 



401 



Marriage, among the Tahus, 344; at 

Cibola, 350; at Tiguex, 353. 
Mats, used in building houses, 346, 

357 n. 

Matsaki, Zuni pueblo, 315 n.; descrip- 
tion of, 315-316, 350, mentioned, 

358 n. 

Mauilla, De Soto at, 189; encounter 
with the Indians at, 190-193; men- 
tioned, 195. 

Mayayes Indians, 54 n. 

Maye, cacique of, gives battle, 239. 

Mayo Indians, 346 n. 

Meal, sacred, use of, 307 n. 

Meat, scarcity of, among De Soto's 
men, 167-168. 

Meirinho, see Tapile. 

Melgosa, Pablo de, appointed captain, 
293; explores Colorado River 
Canons, 309; at Tiguex, 319. 

Melons, native American, 348. 

Memphis, near place of De Soto's 
crossing of the Mississippi, 204 n. 

Mendez, to seek Panuco, 49; taken by 
Indians, 58, 62. 

Mendica Indians, 87. 

Mendoza, Antonio de, first viceroy of 
New Spain, 121 n., 281 n.; learns 
of the arrival of De Soto's men at 
Panuco, 267; receives them at 
Mexico, 269; appoints Coronado 
governor of New Galicia, 287 ; plans 
expedition to Cibola, 275, 281 ; gives 
command to Coronado, 275, 281, 
291; names Compostela as rendez- 
vous, 293; addresses soldiers at 
Compostela, 294; returns to New 
Spain, 295; mentioned, 296, 297, 
302, 326 ; letter of, relating progress 
of expedition, 277; Coronado re- 
ceives messages from, 367; men- 
tioned, 377; disappointment of, 
over failure of expedition, 378. 

Mesa, Spanish soldier, 538. 

Mesquite flour, 89. 

Mestitam, Mexico, 268. 

Mexico, 97 n.; Cabeza de Vaca at, 
120, 121; Moscoso at, 269. 

Miakka River, 150 n. 

Michoacan, province in New Spain, 
286; journey of Mendoza through, 
294. 

Mico River, 228. 



Mills, at Tiguex, 354. 

Mindeleff, V., on pueblo architecture, 
354 n. 

Miruelo, pilot, 18, 20. 

Mishongnovi, Hopi pueblo, 358 n. 

Mississippi River, reached by Narvaez 
and Cabeza de Vaca, 41; the Great 
River, 202; De Soto crosses, 204; 
nature of country of, from Aquixo to 
Pacaha and Coligoa, 270; described 
by Indians, 330; reference to, 339; 
description of, 365; mentioned, 385^ 
386. See also Grande River, Great 
River, and Espiritu Santo River. 

Mobile, 40 n. 

Mochilagua, settlement of, 347. 

Mochilla, presented to De Soto, 213. 

Mocogo, town of, 150 n.; speech of 
cacique of, to De Soto, 153. 

Moculixa, 194 n. 

Monroe County, Arkansas, 253 n. 

Monroe County, Mississippi, 195. 

Montejo, feats of, in Tabasco, 380. 

Mortar, substitute for, among Indians, 
352. 

Moscoso de Alvarado, Luis, direction 
pursued by, 131; mentioned, 135; 
joins De Soto at Seville, 137; is 
master of the camp, 146; lodges 
with Ucita, 147; at Cale, 156; over- 
takes De Soto, 157; sent forward to 
Tastaluca, 187; advises a halt, 189; 
fails to keep a careful watch over 
the Indians at Chicaca, 197; suc- 
ceeds De Soto as governor, 233; 
holds a conference, 235-236; leaves 
Guachoya, 236; at Chaguate, 236- 
237; at Aguacay , 238 ; at Naguatex, 
240-242; reaches the Red River, 
241; hangs his Indian guides, 242; 
marches from Nondaco, 243; en- 
counter with Indians at Aays, 243; 
hears of other Europeans seen by 
the Indians of Soacatino, 243; de- 
cides that reports are false, 244; 
holds a council and decides to return 
to Nilco, 245-246; causes resent- 
ment among his followers, 247; 
reaches Nilco, 248 ; goes to Aminoya, 
249; directs the building of brigan- 
tines, 250; learns of Indian plot, 
251 ; commands that right hands of 
thirty Indians be cut off, 252; 



2d 



402 



INDEX 



mutilates other Indians, 252; pro- 
ceeds against Taguanate, 253; em- 
barks with his followers, 253-254; 
is attacked by Indians, 255-259; 
puts out to sea, 261; is separated 
from the other brigan tines, 263; 
after fifty-two days reaches the 
river Panico, 265-266; is received 
at the town of the same name, 267; 
and at Mexico, 269. 

Mosquitos, 67, 263. 

Mota Padilla, M. de la, cited, 356 n., 
365 n., 366 n. 

Mountain lions, in Chichilticalli, 349; 
in Cibola, 350. 

Mountains seen by Cabeza de Vaca, 
92 n. 

Mud Island, 57 n. 

Mulberries, wild, 334, 364. 

Musetti, Juan Pedro, book merchant, 
126. 

Musical instruments of Indians, 312, 
354. 

Muskhogean tribes, 21 n. 

Nacacahoz, Moscoso at, 244. 

Naguatex, mentioned, 238 ; Indian ad- 
vance at, 239 ; cacique of, addresses 
Moscoso, 241; found full of maize, 
247; pottery made at, 247. 

Najera, birthplace of Castafieda, 276. 

Nambe, Tewa pueblo, 359 n. 

Napetaca, engagement at, between De 
Soto and the Indians, 158. 

Naquiscoca, Moscoso at, 244. 

Narvaez, Pamfilo de, receives grant, 
3; sets sail, 3, 14; failure of his 
expedition, 7; size of his fleet, 14; 
reaches Santo Domingo where one 
hundred and forty men desert, 14; 
arrives at Santiago de Cuba, 15; 
loses ten of his ships and sixty men 
in storm at Trinidad, 3-4, 15-17; 
major portion of his fleet reach 
Trinidad and winter there, 17; at 
Xagua, 17; sights Florida, 18; 
reaches the mainland, 19; takes 
possession of country in the royal 
name, 4, 19-20; explores inland, 
20, 21; holds conference regarding 
further penetration of interior, 22; 
takes up march into country, with 
three hundred men, 4, 25 ; accepts | 



Indian allies against the Apalachees, 
26-27; takes Apalachen, 28; de- 
parts for Aute, 31; attacked by 
Indians, 31; reaches Aute, 32; 
departs from Aute, 33; calls a. 
council, which decides to build ves- 
sels in which to get away, 34-36; 
loses ten men killed by Indians, 
and forty, who die of disease, 36; 
leaves Bay of Horses, and meets 
with many privations, 37-38; lands 
and is wounded by Indians, 38-39; 
embarks once more and proceeds 
along the coast, 39-41; reaches the 
Mississippi, 41; exhibits selfishness 
in saving his life, 42 ; fate of, narrated 
by Esquivel, 62; mentioned by 
Oviedo, 70; is carried out to sea, 
72; fate of his voyage foretold, 124; 
his Panuco fleet, 124-125; men- 
tioned, 157, 288; skulls of his horses 
found at Ochete, 162; his disaster 
frightens the followers of Moscoso, 
248; survivors of his expedition 
return to New Spain, 288. 

Natividad, departure of Alar con from,, 
294. 

Nebraska, description of, 364. 

Negroes, island of, 386. 

Negroes, with Coronado, 333. 

Neosho River, 217 n. 

New Albany, 200 n. 

Newfoundland, Spanish name for, 
343 n., 360. 

New Galicia, province of New Spain, 
113, 285 n., 286, 344; Coronado 
appointed governor of, 287; Coro- 
nado deprived of governorship of, 
378. 

New Spain, mentioned, 124,254; direc- 
tion from Rio de las Palmas, 272. 

Nicalasa, an Indian chief, 195 n. 

Nilco, mentioned, 224, 225, 228, 230, 
231; De Soto at, 226; most popu- 
lous town that was seen in Florida, 
226; attacked, by orders of De Soto, 
230-232; cacique of, plots against 
Moscoso, 251; and comes to make 
excuses, 252. 

Nilco, river of, De Soto crosses, 227. 

Nissohone, a poor province, 242; a 
woman of, acts as guide to Moscoso, 
242. 



INDEX 



403 



Niza, Marcos de, expedition of, to 
Cibola, 9, 275, 288-290; narrative 
of, 277, 290 n.; reports of, verified 
by Diaz, 277, 296; made father pro- 
vincial of Franciscans, 291; sermon 
of, 298; mentioned, 300; return of , 
to Mexico, 302. 

Nondacao, reported to have plenty of 
maize, 242; mentioned, 243. 

North Carolina, 176 n. 

Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, Alvar. See 
Cabeza de Vaca, Alvar Nunez. 

Nufio de Guzman, 116, 119, 120. 

Nut pine, 96. 

Nuts, 271. 

Oaxaca, Marques del Valle de, title 
given to Cortes, 286 n. 

Ochete, skulls of horses found at, 162. 

Ochus, province, 163; mentioned, 175. 

Ochuse, Maldonado at, 193. 

Ocilla River, boundary of Muskhogean 
territory, 21 n. 

Ogita, see Ucita. 

Ocmulgee River, 166 n. 

Oconna-Luftee River, 176 n., 177 n. 

Oconee River, 167 n. 

Ocute, described to De Soto, 167; De 
Soto at, 167, 168; mentioned, 179; 
land is fertile, 270; distance to 
Cutifachiqui, 270. 

Ogechee River, 170 n. 

Ohoopee River, 170 n. 

Oiiate, Christobal de, governor of New 
Galicia, entertains Coronado, 294. 

Ofiate, Count of, nephew of, appointed 
captain, 292. 

Ofiate, Juan de, settlement made at 
Yukiwingge by, 340 n. 

Opata Indians, 305 n., 348 n.; pois- 
oned arrows of, 326 n.; mentioned, 
376 n. 

Opossum, first allusion to, 29 n. 

Oraibi, Hopi pueblo, 358 n. 

Ortiz, Juan, rescued by De Soto, 10; 
found by De Gallegos, 149; his ad- 
ventures among the Indians, 149- 
152; reports Indian plan to attack 
De Soto, 158; acts as interpreter, 
170; not to speak of Maldonado 's 
proximity, 193; secures release of 
Osorio and Fuentes, 197; dies at 
Autiamque, 224. 



Osorio, Antonio, ascends river at 
Pacaha with five men, 210, 211. 

Osorio, Francisco, condemned to death 
by De Soto, 197. 

Otter, 350, 357. 

Ovando, Francisco de, companion of 
Coronado, 292; treatment of, by 
Indians, 354. 

Oviedo, Gonzalo Fernandez de, edits 
report to Audiencia of Espafiola, 8, 
10; edition cited, 21 n., 25 n., 31 n., 
39 n., 68-70, 92 n., 112 n. 

Oviedo, Lope de, at Malhado, 6; de- 
serts, 6 ; among the Indians, 44-45 ; 
rescued by Cabeza de Vaca, 57; 
returns, through fear, 59. 

Oxitipar, district of, in New Spain, 285. 

Oyster creek, 57 n. 

Oysters, found by Cabeza de Vaca, 33. 

Pacaha, sought by De Soto for its gold, 
205, 208; probably to be located in 
the vicinity of Osceola, in Arkansas, 
209n.; De Soto at, 209-213; cacique 
of, flees from De Soto, 210; is 
brought to the governor and sub- 
mits to him, 211 ; and accepts friend- 
ship of the cacique of Casqui, 212; 
distance to Aquiguate, 215; men- 
tioned, 227, 270; direction of, 271. 

Pacaxes, a tribe in Culiacan, 345. 

Padilla, Juan de, companion of Alva- 
rado, 279; accompanies Tovar to 
Tusayan, 307; remains in Quivira, 
372; death of, 364, 373, 385. 

Pafalya, 194. 

Pajarito Park, 340 n. 

Palachen, 22 n. 

Palacios, death of, 49. 

Palisema, De Soto in, 216. 

Palmas, Rio de las, western limit of 
grant to Narvaez, 3, 14; mentioned, 
22, 260, 264, 265, 266; direction 
from, to New Spain, 272; direction 
of, from Espiritu Santo, 272. 

Palmitos, sustenance of Narvaez and 
his men, 25. 

Palos, Juan de, friar, with Narvaez, 25. 

Panico, 268. See also Panuco. 

Pantoja, Juan, ordered by Narvaez to 
proceed to Trinidad, 15; possibly 
the Pantoja killed by Soto-Mayor, 
15 n.; advises Narvaez, 42; made 



404 



INDEX 



lieutenant, 62; killed by Soto- 
Mayor, 63. 

Panuco, Narvaez orders ships to find, 
4; mentioned, 63; to be sought by 
four men of Cabeza de Vaca's party, 
49; Guzman, governor of, 285 n.; 
mention of, 385. See also Panico. 

Panuco River, 265 n. 

Papa, title given priests at Zufii, 351. 

Papagos, tribe of Sonora, 348 n. 

Paracoxi, province, 153, 154, 155. 

Partidos, seduce one hundred and forty 
men from Narvaez, 14. 

Pasquaro, visited by Mendoza, 294. 

Patent, to Narvaez, 3. 

Pato, Moscoso at, 238. 

Patofa, speech of, 168-169. 

Patoqua, Jemez pueblo, 359 n. 

Pawnee Indians, mention of, 328 n., 
337 n., 365 n. 

Paz, Augustin de, printer, 126. 

Peace, form of making, at Acoma, 312; 
at Tiguex, 319. 

Pearls, found by De Soto, 174; burned 
at Mauilla, 193. 

Pecos, identification of Cicuye with, 
329 n.; visit of Indians from, 310; 
visited by Alvarado, 312; visit of 
Coronado to, 327; siege of, 341; 
route of army to, 361 n.; descrip- 
tion of, 355-356; history of, 355 n.; 
mention of, 359. 

Pecos River, crossed by Spaniards, 
99 n., 329, 338. 

Pedro, Don, lord of Tescuco, killed, 31. 

Pedro, Indian guide, is baptized, 174; 
regarded with suspicion, 176. 

Pemmican, used by Indians, 363. 

Penalosa, embarks in open boat, 36; 
repulses Indians, 39; overtaken by 
Cabeza de Vaca, 43; reported killed 
by the Camones, 72. 

Pensacola, Muskhogean territory, 21 n. 

Pensacola Bay, 38 n., 40 n. See also 
Chuse, Bay of. 

People of the Figs, 79, 87. 

Peru, exploration of, 380. 

Petachan River, see Petlatlan. 

Petates, or mats used for houses, 346, 
377 n. 

Petlatlan, description of Indian settle- 
ment of, 346 ; houses at, 346, 377 n. ; 
mention of, 376. 



Petlatlan, Rio, identification of, with 
Rio Sinaloa, 346 n. 

Petutan River, 111, 117 n. 

Philip II., king of Spain, 288. 

Philippine Islands, location of isle of 
negroes in, 386 n. 

Piache, see Piachi. 

Piache River, 188, 189. 

Piachi, 188 n. 

Picardo, Juan, printer, 126. 

Picones, catfish, 349 n. 

Picuris, pueblo of, 352 n. 

Pima Indians, 115 n., 348 n. 

Pimahaitu Indians, 115 n. 

Pine Bluff, 225 n., 248 n. 

Pine nuts, used as food, 96, 349, 350. 

Piraguas, built by De Soto, 225. 

Piros Indians, 104 n.; villages of, 
341 n. 

Pizarro, Hernando, mentioned, 135. 

Plot, against Narvaez, 34. 

Pobares, Francisco, death of, 322. 

Pojoaque, Tewa pueblo, 359 n. 

Pontotoc county, Mississippi, 195. 

Porcallo de Figueroa, Vasco, offers pro- 
visions to Narvaez, 15; keeps his 
slaves from hanging themselves, 
142; mentioned, 143; is made 
captain-general, by De Soto, 145; 
is resisted by Indians, 146; lodges 
with Ucita, 147; is unable to make 
seizures of Indians, as slaves, 154; 
and returns to Cuba, 154. 

Pork, allowance of, to De Soto's men, 
171. 

Portuguese, with Hernando de Soto, 
leave Elvas, 138; Spanish seek to 
get among the Portuguese, 139. 

Potano, town, 156, 162. 

Pottery, glazed, of Indians, 340; 
where found, 340 n.; made by 
Indians, 355, 361. 

Prairie de Roane, 239 n. 

Prairie dogs, seen by Coronado on 
great plains, 338. 

Prentiss County, Mississippi, 212 n. 

Prickly pears, 61 n., 66-67, 70, 71. 72, 
73, 74, 75-76, 77, 78, 80, 81, 93, 94, 
96, 246. See also Tuna. 

Primahaitu Indians, 114. 

Prostitution among the Tahus, 344-345. 

Puaray, settlement upon site of 
Tiguex, 317 n. 



INDEX 



405 



Pueblo Indians, 90 n., 104 n.; rabbit 
hunts among, 98 n.; ceremonials 
of, 384. 

Pueblos, method of building, 352. 

Puerto de Luna, 338 n. 

Puerto Principe, town in Cuba, 142, 
143, 144. 

Puje, ruin of pueblo of, 340 n. 

Quachichiles, see Guachichules. 

Quachita River, 238 n. 

Qualla, see Xualla. 

Querechos Indians, mode of life of, 330; 
description of, 362-363. 

Queres, pueblos of, 327 n., 352, 358 n. 

Quevenes Indians, 59, 62, 85, 87. 

Quigaltam, 227; cacique of, sends 
message to De Soto, 229; arouses 
the latter's suspicions, 230; men- 
tioned, 235. 

Quigualtam, Indians of, attack Mos- 
coso, 255. 

Quiguate, 213, 215, 216. See Aqui- 
guate. 

Quince juice, use of, as poison antidote, 
376, 381. 

Quipana, near plains, 222 n. 

Quirex, province of, visited by Span- 
iards, 327. 

Quitok Indians, 80 n., 87 n. 

Quitoles Indians, 87 n. 

Quivira, stories of, told by Turk, 313, 
314; mention of, 327; departure of 
Coronadofor, 328; stories of Xabe 
of, 329 ; arrival of Coronado at, 336 ; 
route to, 337 n.; Indians of, identi- 
fied with Wichita Indians, 337 n.; 
Coronado returns from, 341, 342; 
description of, reference to, 362, 
365, 366, 367; return to, planned, 
368; Padilla remains in, 372, 373 n.; 
death of Padilla at, 385; route to, 
378, 385. 

Quizquiz, De Soto at, 202; Indians of, 
present skins and shawls, 202; di- 
rection of, 271. 

Rabbits, on the great plains, 363; 
skins of, used for garments, 350. 

Rafts, use of, in crossing Colorado 
River, 304; method of making, 304. 

Ramirez, Fray Juan, establishes mis- 
sion at Acoma, 311 n. 



Ranjel, Narrative by, 130; cited, 161 n., 
165 n., 166 n., 167 n„ 172 n., 
175 n., 177 n., 178 n., 185 n., 188 n., 
189 n., 194 n., 215 n., 216 n., 217 n., 
222 n. 

Rau, Charles, translator of Baegert's 
narrative, 346 n. 

Redland, 195. 

Red River, 225 n., 261 n.; Moscoso at, 
241 n.; identification of, with Zuni 
River, 299 n. 

Relation del Suceso, 278; cited, 337 n., 
365 n., 367 n. 

Relation Postrera de Sibola, 278. 

Riberos, el Factor, companion of Coro- 
nado, 293. 

Rio Grande, 99 n., 102, 103 n., 104 n.; 
Indians attempt to cross, 323; 
pueblos near, 327 n., 335 n.; dis- 
appearance underground of, 341; 
mention of, 339 n., 340 n.; direction 
of, 359 n., 360. 

Ritchey, W. E., cited, 302. 

River, the, 228. 

River Grande, see Grande River. 

Rodriguez, Men., killed at Mauilla, 
193. 

Rojas, Juan de, made governor's 
lieutenant of Cuba, 146. 

Romo, Alfonso, sent in quest of habita- 
tions, 171; overtakes De Soto, 172. 

Ruiz, Goncalo, death of, 49. 

Saabedra, Fernandarias de, appoint- 
ment of, 297. 
Saabedra, H. de, mayor of Culiacan, 

297, 371, 372. 
Sacatecas, see Zacatecas. 
St. Clement's Point, landing of Nar- 

vaez at, 19 n. 
St. Francis County, Arkansas, 205 n., 

214 n. 
St. Francis River, 213 n., 214 n. 
St. Marks, seat of the Apalachee, 21 n., 

30 n. 
St. Marks Bay, 33 n., 37 n. 
St. Marks River, 33 n. 
Saline County, 236 n. 
Saline River, 236 n. 
Salt, made by Spaniards, 218, 238; 

natural crystals of, in Arizona, 310; 

lakes of, on great plains, 338, 362. 
Salvidar, Juan de, companion of 



406 



INDEX 



Coronado, 292; explorations of, 
296; mentioned, 299; at Tiguex, 
319; captures Indian village, 324; 
escape of Indian woman from, 339. 

Samaniego, Lope de, appointed army- 
master, 292; death of, 295. 

San Antonio Bay, 58 n. 

San Antonio Cape, 143. 

San Antonio River, 74 n. 

San Bernardo River, 58 n. 

Sanbenitos, described, 334 n., 347. 

Sancti Spiritus, town in Cuba, 142, 144. 

Sandia Mountains, 352. 

San Gabriel de los Espafioles, settle- 
ment of, 340 n. 

San Hieronimo de los Corazones, 
founding of, 301 ; dispatches from, 
324; disturbance in, 326; trans- 
ferred to Suya, 301, 326. 

San Ildefonso, Tewa pueblo, 359 n. 

San Juan, Tewa pueblo, 340 n., 359 n. 

Sanlucar, Bay of, 139. 

Sanlucar, muster of De Soto's forces at, 
139. 

San Lucar de Barrameda, port in 
Spain, 3, 14 n. 

San Luis, island, 57 n. 

San Marcos- Guadalupe River, 74 n. 

San Miguel, village, 120. 

San Miguel Culiacan, 113 n. 

San Pedro, river in Sonora, 371 n. 

Sant Anton, Cape, westernmost point 
of Cuba, 18 n. 

Santa Clara, Tewa pueblo, 359 n. 

Santa Fe, seat of provincial govern- 
ment, 340 n. 

Santa Maria, Rio, 105 n. 

Santander River, called Rio de los 
Palmas, 14 n. 

Santiago, use of, as war cry, 300 n., 308. 

Santiago de Cuba, described by the 
Gentleman of Elvas, 140 -141 ; bread 
there made of a root, 141; natural 
products of, 141. 

Sant Miguel, strait, 37. 

Santo Domingo, Narvaez reaches, 14; 
mentioned, 19 n. 

Saquechuma, burned by Indians to 
deceive De Soto, 196. 

Savannah River, 21 n., 172 n. 

Sebastian, king, 272 n. 

Seminole Indians, 19 n, 

Senora, see Sonora. 



Seri Indians, 108 n., 301 n. 

Seven Cities, see Cibola. 

Sheep, Rocky Mountain, 305, 348. 

Shongopovi, Hopi pueblo, 358 n. 

Shupaulovi, Hopi pueblo, 358 n. 

Sia, identification of, 327 n., 359 n.; 
mention of, 359. 

Sichomovi, Hopi pueblo, 358 n. 

Sierra, dies, 49. 

Sierra Madre Mountains, 106 n. 

Sign language, used by Querechos, 330 ; 
by plains Indians, 363, 363 n. 

Silos, Pueblo de los, 356, 358 n. 

Silveira, Fernando da, epigram by, 
133. 

Silver, reports of, at Quivira, 313, 314, 
329; use of, in glazing, 340, 355, 
361; mine of, at Culiacan, 345. 

Silver Bluff, 172 n. 

Sinaloa, settlement of, 347. 

Sinaloa River, 113, 117 n., 346. 

Sipsey River, 194 n. 

Slavery, Spanish, among the Indians, 
64; Indian, among the Spaniards, 
110, 114, 116, 312, 329, 339; Ind- 
ians sought by Vasco Porcallo de 
Figueroa, 154; taken by De Soto, 
160, 181, 184-185, 186, 195, 205, 
206, 208, 209, 215, 216, 217, 218, 
219, 222, 223, 225, 227, 232; by 
Moscoso, 238, 239, 242, 254; five 
hundred men and women aban- 
doned, 254. 

Smith, Buckingham, Relation of 
Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, 
cited, 19 n., 24 n., 25 n., 30 n., 31 n., 
71 n., 79 n., 90 n., 92 n. ; translation 
of Oviedo's Letter, 68-70; Coleccion 
de varios Documentos para la His- 
toria de la Florida, edited by, 130. 

Snakes, worship of, 344. 

Soacatino, guide to, furnished to Mos- 
coso, 243; Indians of, report seeing 
Europeans, 243; Moscoso at, 244. 

Sobaipuri, 349 n., 371 n. 

Socorro, see Aymay. 

Sodomy, among Pacaxes, 345; at 
Petlatlan, 346; at Suya, 348; 
absence of, at Cibola, 351. 

Solis, Alonso de, distributor and 
assessor, with Narvaez, 14; enters 
Apalachen, 28; embarks in open 
boat, 36; is drowned, 46. 



INDEX 



407 



Sonora, Spanish settlement in valley 
of, 301, 302; San Hieronimo aban- 
doned for, 301, 326; description of, 
347; rebellion at, 370-371. 

Sonora Indians, 106 n. 

Sorcery, among Pacaxes, 345. 

Soti, brothers, die at Aminoya, 249. 

Soto, Hernando de, wishes services of 
Cabeza de Vaca, 8, 136; Narrative 
of expedition of, by the Gentleman 
of Elvas, 127-272; geographical 
knowledge afforded by the Narra- 
tive, 129; Indian tribes described, 
129; places mentioned, 129; parent- 
age of, 135; captain of horse in 
Peru, 135; marries Dona Ysabel de 
Bobadilla, 136; is made governor of 
Cuba, and Adelantado of Florida, 
136; members of his company, 136- 
138 ; sails with six hundred men and 
seven ships, 139; reaches Santiago 
de Cuba, 140; goes to Havana by 
land, 143; lands in Florida, 146; 
lodges with Ucita, 147; loses his 
Indian interpreters, 147; sends 
vessels to Cuba for provisions, 154; 
moves toward Cale, in search of 
gold, 155 ; finds the town abandoned, 
155; orders all the ripe grain in the 
fields to be secured, 156; loses three 
men, 156; reaches Caliquen and 
hears of the distress that overtook 
Narvaez at Apalache, but decides to 
go onward, 157; takes cacique, and 
is attacked by Indians at Napetaca, 
158; divides some of the captives 
among his men and orders execution 
of the rest, 160; seizes a hundred 
Indian men and women, 160; starts 
in search of gold, reported to be at 
Yupaha, 164; tells the cacique of 
Achese that he is the child of the 
Sun, 167; plants a cross, 167; re- 
ceives four hundred tamemes from 
the cacique of Ocute, 168; leaves 
the province of Patofa, 169; an 
exorcism cures his guide, 169; re- 
ceives seven hundred tamemes, 170; 
suffers many privations, 171-172; 
orders an Indian burned, 172; hears 
speech of a kinswoman of the cacica 
of Cutifachiqui, 172-173; hears 
speech of the cacica., 173; leaves 



Cutifachiqui, 175; takes the cacica 
as a slave, 176; distances traversed, 
177; begs maize of the cacique of 
Chiaha, 178; hears speech of cacique 
of that place, 178; sends men to see 
if there is gold at Chisca, 181 ; hears 
speech of cacique of Coste, 182-183; 
and speech of cacique of Coca, 183- 
184; rests at Co ga twenty-five days, 
185; hears speech at Tallisi, 186- 
187; hears speech of cacique of 
Tastaluca, 188; distances traversed 
to Tastaluga, 188-189; wounded in 
encounter with Indians at Mauilla, 
191; hears that Maldonado is at 
Ochuse, 193 ; his losses in the Florida 
expedition, 194; leaves Mauilla, 
194; reaches Chicaga and takes some 
Indians, 195; cuts off an Indian's 
hands for theft, 196; repulses Ind- 
ians, 197-199; leaves Chicaga and 
sustains two more attacks made by 
the natives, 199-201; sets out for 
Quizquiz, 202 ; crosses the Mississippi, 
204; hears speeches of the cacique 
of Casqui, 206-207; preaches Chris- 
tianity to the Indians, 207-208; 
finds many shawls and skins at 
Pacaha, 209; makes friendship 
between the caciques of Casqui and 
Pacaha, 212; burns part of Aqui- 
guate, 214; takes one hundred and 
forty-one Indians, 215; makes other 
captures at Coligoa, 216; at Tanico, 
217; subdues cacique of Tulla, 218- 
220 ; has now been gone three years, 
221 ; has lost two hundred and fifty 
men, 221; winters at Autiamque, 
222-224; goes to Nilco, 226; and 
thence to Guachoya, 227; sends a 
message to cacique of Quigaltam, 229 ; 
is taken ill, 230; sends expedition 
against Nilco, 230-231; farewell 
speech to his men, 232-233; names 
Moscoso to be his successor, 233; 
dies, 233; and is secretly buried, 
234; sale of his property, 235; ref- 
erence to discoveries of, 313, 339, 
365; crosses route of Coronado, 
339; mentioned, 362, 366; route 
of, 386. 
Soto-Mayor, Juan de, companion of 
Coronado, 293. 



408 



INDEX 



Soto-Mayor, kills Juan Pantoja, 15 n., 

63; dies and is eaten by Esquivel, 

63. 
Soto-Mayor, Pedro de, chronicler of 

Cardenas' expedition, 310. 
South Carolina, 176 n. 
South Sea, 105, 108, 111, 238. See 

also California, Gulf of. 
Staked Plains, 7, 97 n., 245 n., 361 n., 

362 n. 
Stevens, John, dictionary of, 300 n. 
Susola Indians, 76, 80 n., 87. 
Suwannee, river, crossed by Narvaez, 

27 n. 
Suya, see Sonora. 
Swain County, 176 n. 

Tabasco, mention of, 380. 

Tabu, among Indians of Malhado, 51- 

52. 
Taguanate, cacique of, plots against 

Moscoso, 251; comes to make 

excuses, 252; town assaulted by 

Moscoso, 252-253. 
Tahu Indians, a tribe in Culiacan, 344. 
Tali, De Soto at, 182; speech of cacique 

of, 182-183. 
Taliepataua, 194. 
Talise, nature of the country, 270. 

See also Tallise. 
Talladega County, 183 n. 
Tallahassee, seat of the Apalachee, 

21 n. 
Tallahatchie River, 200 n. 
Tallapoosa County, 186. 
Tallapoosa River, 186. 
Tallimuchose, without inhabitants, 

185. 
Tallise, 186; cacique of, lends forty 

men to De Soto, 186; presents the 

tamemes needed, 187. See also 

Talise. 
Tamemes, Indians who carry burdens, 

168, 170, 176, 182, 184, 186, 187, 

213. 
Tampas Bay, reached by Narvaez, 20; 

mentioned, 36 n., 125 n. 
Tanico, De Soto at, 217. 
Tanto River, 143. 
Taos, identification with Braba, 340 n. ; 

visit of Spaniards to, 340; Valla- 

dolid Spanish name for, 340; men- 
tion of, 359. 



Tapatu River, 228. 

Tapile, equivalent of meirinho, 269. 

Tarasca, a district in Michoacan, 
286. 

Tascaluca, De Soto seeks, 185 ; cacique 
of, addresses De Soto, 186-187; dis- 
tance to Mississippi, 215; nature of 
the country, 270; direction of, 271. 
See also Tastaluca. 

Tastaluca, cacique of, sends a chief to 
De Soto, 186-187; dwelling of, 187; 
speech to De Soto, 188; is taken 
by De Soto, 188; asks to be allowed 
to remain, 189; at Mauilla, 189. 
See also Tascaluca. 

Tatalicoya, De Soto at, 217. 

Tattooing, among Indians, 348 n. 

Tavera, one of Cabeza de Vaca's party, 
death of, 48-49. 

Tejas, see Teyas. 

Tejo, stories told by, 285-286; death 
of, 287. 

Tellez, captain, embarks in open boat, 
36; repulses Indians, 39; over- 
taken by Cabeza de Vaca, 43; re- 
ported killed by the Camones, 72. 

Tennessee River, 181 n., 212 n. 

Teocomo, settlement of, 347. 

Tepoca Indians, 108 n. 

Terceira, island, 123; produces batata, 
141. 

Ternaux-Compans, Henri, translation 
of Castafieda by, 277, 290 n., 341 n. 

Tesuque, Tewa pueblo, 359 n. 

Tewa Indians, pottery of, 340 n.; 
pueblos of, 359 n. 

Teyas, tribe of plains Indians, 333; 
identification with Tejas, or Texas, 
333 n.; guides of Coronado to 
Quivira, 335, 338; Cicuye besieged 
by, 357 ; name of, synonymous with 
braves, 357; mentioned, 362; can- 
nibalism among, 363 n. 

Theodoro, a Greek, makes resin, 35; 
deserts, 40. 

Tietiquaquo, chief of, comes to De 
Soto, 223. 

Tiguas, 317 n.; pueblos of, 358 n. 

Tiguex, visited by Alvarado, 312; 
identification of, 317 n.; demands 
of Spaniards at, 318; revolt of 
Indians of, 319; Indians of, dis- 
trust Spaniards, 321, 328; seige of, 



INDEX 



400 



322 ; description of, 352 ; pueblos of, 
358. 

Timucuan Indians, 19 n., 25 n. 

Timuquanan or Timucuan Indians, 
19 n., 25 n. 

Tishomingo County, Mississippi, 212 n. 

Tison, Rio del, reason for name of, 
301. See Colorado River. 

Toalli, De Soto at, 165, 166; houses 
made of grass, 165. 

Toasi, 185 n.; De Soto at, 186. 

Tobar, Nuno de, at court, 135; ac- 
companies De Soto, 137; is deprived 
of his rank as captain-general, 145; 
leaves his wife at Havana, 146; 
sent against Nilco, 231. 

Tobosos Indians, 103 n. 

Tocaste, town, 155 n. 

Tombigbee River, 189 n., 194 n., 195 n. 

Tomson, Robert, cited, 334 n. 

Tonala, settlement of, 287. 

Tonkawa Indians, Texas tribe, 363 n. 

Topia or Tapira in Durango, 290 n. 

Topira, expedition of Coronado to, 
290. 

Torre, Diego Perez de la, replaces 
Guzman, 287. 

Torrejon de Velasco, death of Guzman 
at, 285 n. 

Tovar, Fernando de, position of, 292. 

Tovar, Pedro de, appointed ensign- 
general, 292; visits Tusayan, 307; 
sent to San Hieronimo, 326; joins 
Coronado at Tiguex, 367. 

Traslado de las Nuevas, 278. 

Travois, dog saddles used by plains 
Indians, 362. 

Trees, near Apalachen, 29; of Santi- 
ago de Cuba, 140-141; named by 
Gentleman of Elvas, 206. 

Trigeux, see Tiguex. 

Trinidad, storm at, 15-17; town in 
Cuba, 144, 145. 

Truxillo, adventure of, 298. 

Tuasi, see Toasi. 

Tuckaseegee River, 176 n. 

Tula, direction of, 271. 

Tulla, De Soto's encounter with 
Indians at, 218-219; cacique of, 
offers presents , 220 ; is dismissed ,221. 

Tuna, native American fruit, 347; 
preserves made from, by Indians, 
305 n., 348. 



Tunica County, Mississippi, 204 n. 

Turk, Indian slave at Pecos, 313, 372; 
stories of, 314; bracelets of, 315; 
mentioned, 326, 329, 330, 331; 
Spaniards grow suspicious of, 328, 
334; put in chains, 335; motive of, 
in misleading Spaniards, 336-337. 

Turkeys in pueblo regions, 354. 

Turquoises, presented to Cabeza de 
Vaca, 106, 117; found at Waco, 246 
collected by Estevanico, 288, 289 
how obtained by Indians, 308 n. 
gifts of, made by Indians, 308, 312 
of pueblo Indians, 350. 

Tusayan, description of, by Zufii Ind- 
ians, 307; visited by Tovar, 307; 
cotton cultivated at, 308 n.; de- 
scription of, 351; names of pueblos 
of, 358 n. 

Tutahaco, visit of Coronado to, 314; 
problem of name of, 314 n.; eight 
pueblos of, 358. 

Tutelpinco, De Soto at, 225. 

Tyronza River, 206 n., 208 n. 

Ucita, an Indian chief, 146 n.; town of , 
146, 147; temple thrown down, 147. 

Uitachuco, burned by Indians, 161. 

Ullibahali, chiefs of, approach De Soto, 
185; a fenced town, 185; cacique 
of, offers tamemes to De Soto, 186. 

Union County, Mississippi, 200 n. 

Upanguayma Indians, 108. 

"Upper Cross Timbers," 244 n. 

Urine, use of, as a mordant, 354 n. 

Urrea, Lope de, companion of Coro- 
nado, 293 ; envoy of peace to Ind- 
ians, 323. 

Utinama, town, 156. 

Uzachil, much food found at, 160. 

Uzachil, cacique of, sends embassy to 
De Soto, 158; presents him with 
deer, 160. 

Uzela, De Soto at, 161. 

Vaca, Cabeza de, see Cabeza de Vaca. 

Vacapan, province crossed by Coro- 
nado, 305. 

Vacas, Rio de las, 103 n. 

Valdevieso, killed by Indians, 58, 64; 
mentioned by Oviedo, 69. 

Valencuela, captain, ordered by Nar- 
vaez to follow river to the sea, 26. 



410 



INDEX 



Valladolid, Spanish name of Braba, 

340, 359. 
Valley of Knaves, rebellion of Indians 

in, 326. 
Vargas, Juan de, killed by Indians, 

257. 
Vargas, Luis Ramierez de, companion 

of Coronado, 293. 
Vasconcelos, Andre de, of Elvas, 137, 

138; commands a ship in De Soto's 

expedition, 139; slave of, espouses 

cacica of Cutifachiqui, 177; dies 

at Aminoya, 249. 
Vasconyados Indians, 115 n. 
Vazquez, Juan, killed at Mauilla, 193. 
Vazquez de Ayllon, Lucas, 21 n. 
Vega, Garcilaso de la, "the Inca," 

author of Florida del Yunca, 131 ; 

gives distance of Moscoso's journey 

down the Mississippi, 259 n. 
Vegetation of the great plains, 362. 
Velasco, island, possibly to be identified 

with Malhado, 57 n. 
Velazquez, Juan, first man of Narvaez' 

exploring party to be lost, 27; his 

horse affords supper to many, 27. 
Venison, a thing little known, 74. 
Vera, Francisco de, father of Nunez 

Cabeza de Vaca, 3, 125. 
Vera, Pedro de, conqueror of the 

Canaries, grandfather of Nunez 

Cabeza de Vaca, 3, 13 n., 125. 
Vera Cruz, Cabeza de Vaca at, 121; 

mentioned, 265 n., 268. 
Vessels, built by men under Narvaez, 

34-36; by Spaniards at Aminoya, 

250. 
Vicksburg Bluffs, 255 n. 
Villafarta, named by De Soto, 157. 
Villalobos, R. L. de, voyage of, 360, 

360 n., 378. 
Virgins, treatment of, 355, 356. 
Voth, H. R., studies on Oraibi mar- 
riage customs, 353 n. 

Waco, Moscoso at, 244 n., 245; tur- 
quoises and shawls of cotton found 
at, 246. 

Walnut Bend suggested as the place 
of De Soto's crossing the Mississippi, 
204 n. 

Walnuts, found by Coronado, 334. 

Walpi, Hopi pueblo, 358 n. 



Watercress, native American, 349. 

Whiskers, captain of Cicuye Indians, 
310, 312; taken prisoner by Alva- 
rado, 315; release of, 329. 

White Oak shoals, Red River, 242 n. 

White River, 216 n., 217 n., 253 n. 

Wichita Indians, identified with Ind- 
ians of Quivira, 337 n. 

Wildcat, native American, 349, 350. 

Wine, of pitahaya, 348. 

Winship, George Parker, memoirs on 
the Coronado expedition, 276-277, 
337 n., 341 n., 360 n., 366 n., 374 n., 
386 n. 

Witchcraft practised by Pacaxes, 345. 

Withlacoochee River crossed by Nar- 
vaez, 25 n. 

Wolves on great plains, 363. 

Women, work of, in pueblo building, 
352; functions of, 353. 

Woodruff County, Arkansas, 216 n. 

Xabe, Indian from Quivira, with 
Coronado, 329, 342. 

Xagua, see Jagua. 

Xalisco, establishment of, 287; Alar- 
con's destination at, 294. 

Xerez de Badaj6z, 135. 

Xerez de la Frontera, 126. 

Ximena, see Galisteo. 

Xuala, direction of, 271. 

Xualla, mentioned, 176 n., 177; dis- 
tance to Tastaluca, 188; distance 
to Coca, 189. 

Xuarez, Juan, commissary of Narvaez' 
fleet, 14; burns cases containing 
dead men, 21; approves the plan 
for Spanish to continue inland ex- 
ploration, 23; joins inland march, 
25; one of party that goes to look 
for the sea, 33. 

Yaqui Indians, 118 n., 346 n. 

Yaqui River, 376 n. 

Yaquimi, settlement of, 347. 

Yeguaces Indians, 87 n. 

Yguases Indians, see Yguazes Ind- 
ians. 

Yguazes Indians, 61, 87; manners and 
customs of, 65-66; marriage among, 
65. 

Young County, Texas, 244 n. 

Ysabel de Bobadilla, wife of Hernando 



INDEX 



411 



de Soto, 136; receives a waiting- 
maid from the governor of Gomera, 
140; and a mule from a gentleman 
of Santiago de Cuba, 140; sails for 
Havana, 142; is in much danger, 143; 
remains in Havana, 145; receives 
twenty women, sent by Anasco, 162; 
has not heard from De Soto in three 
years, 221. 

Ysopete, Indian of Quivira, with 
Coronado, 331; supplants Turk in 
confidence of Coronado, 334, 337. 

Ytara, town, 156, 162. 

Ytaua, De Soto at, 185. 

Yukiwingge, visited by Barrionuevo, 
340; location of, 340 n.; pueblos 
of, 359 n. 



Yuma Indians, description of, 303. 
Yupaha, governed by a woman, 164; 

reported to have much gold, 164. 
Yuqueyunque, see Yukiwingge. 



Zacatecas, Mexican province, 385. 
Zamora, printing press at, 126. 
Zebreros, an alcalde, acts as guide to 

Cabeza de Vaca, 115; goes to 

Culiacan, 116. 
Zuni Indians, pueblos of, 300, 358 n.; 

pottery of, 340 n.; tame eagles of, 

348 n.; dress of women of, 350 n.; 

population of pueblos of, 351 n. 

See also Cibola. 
Zuni River, crossed by Coronado, 299. 



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editing. We have the best texts accompanied by brief but clear introductions, and 
explained by notes which are sufficient to guide and instruct and not sufficient to 
puzzle and encumber. In each case a short list of authorities is given which will 
direct those who wish to pursue their inquiries upon any one of the three subjects in 
the way in which they should go, to find all the sources and the last words of 
modern research and antiquarian learning. The selection and editing could not in 
fact have been better done for the purpose which the editors had in view. 

" Here in this volume we have the journal of that first voyage (of Columbus),, 
and there are few things that have been written about the adventures of men 
better worth reading. 

" It is of no great consequence whether Guanahani was Watling's Island or 
some other. It is the great fact that the New World was then and there discovered,, 
which concerns us all. And this journal, simple, clear, full of faith and generous 
hope, brings home that fact in a way that no retelling of the marvellous tale could 
ever accomplish. It is all so human, so convincing, and, as we read the very words 
of the great admiral, it all seems so near. 

" If any one wishes to wrestle with the endless questions and controversies of 
the Columbian voyages, it is easy to plunge into the countless books upon the sub- 
ject. Meantime the general reader, little concerned with dates and identification of 
places, but profoundly interested in the fact of America's discovery, can find in 
these letters and journals the man himself, and live over with him the triumph, one 
of the greatest ever won, and the tragedy, one of the most piteous ever endured. 

" After all, there is nothing better than this that history can do for us, and very 
few histories can do it quite so well as an original narrative with all its errors and im- 
perfections on its head, if we are only fortunate enough to possess one which has 
both literary quality and real human feeling." 

NE W YORK TRIB UNE : " If the value of the enterprise may be predicated 
from the volume just published, it is likely to take a high place in the ranks of 
source publications." 

2 



ORIGINAL NARRATIVES OF EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

THE SPANISH EXPLORERS 
IN THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES 

J528-J543 

CONTENTS 

WANDERINGS OF CABEZA DE VACA. Edited by Frederick W. 
Hodge, of the Bureau of American Ethnology. 

EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO, by the Gentleman of Elvas. 

Edited by Theodore H. Lewis, of St. Paul. 

EXPEDITION OF CORONADO, by Pedro de Castefleda. Edited by 
Frederick W. Hodge. 

With Maps and Facsimile Reproductions 



EARLY ENGLISH AND FRENCH VOYAGES 

CHIEFLY OUT OF HAKLUYT 

J534-J607 

With Maps and Facsimile Reproductions 

Edited by the Rev. Dr. Henry S. Burrage, of the Maine Historical Society. 



" The professional position of Dr. Jameson adds significance to the work of which 
he now appears as General Editor, and which is of first-rate importance on its own 
account. . . . There is a sanity and freedom from controversial bitterness in the edi- 
torial portions which commends the volume warmly to us. The hand of the master 
is obviously present. And the editors have recognized, as is wise, but, alas, only too 
rare, that the text is the thing; that the volume of reprints is valuable for the origi- 
nals which it contains, and is not a proper show-place for editorial accomplishments." 

— The Independent. 



ORIGINAL NARRATIVES OF EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

" Not the least valuable feature of these volumes are the copious and accurate 
notes. The annotations are scholarly and simple, and well enable the intelligent 
reader to understand and to estimate rightly statements of the text. ... By making 
accessible these pioneer narratives they will confer a general benefit to American 
historical knowledge, and for the first time offer important works in Americana at a 
price which places them within the reach of all scholars." — Boston Transcript. 

" Of the highest value to students of history, placing within easy reach original 
sources of historical material, which heretofore have been limited to the few who 
have had access to great libraries." — Minneapolis Journal. 



PARTIAL LIST OF VOLUHES IN PREPARATION 

VOYAGES OF SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN. Edited by Mr. W. L. Grant, 

of Toronto. 

NARRATIVES OF EARLY VIRGINIA. Edited by President L. G. 
Tyler, of the College of William and Mary. 

BRADFORD'S HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH PLANTATION. Edited by 
the Hon. William T. Davis, of Plymouth, Mass. 

WINTHROP'S JOURNAL. Edited by Dr. J. K. Hosmer. 

NARRATIVES OF NEW NETHERLAND. 

JOHNSON'S WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE OF SIGN'S SAVIOR 
IN NEW ENGLAND. Edited by Dr. J. F. Jameson. 

NARRATIVES OF EARLY MARYLAND. 



For Fuller Information, send to the Publishers 

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 

J53-J57 Fifth Avenue, New York 

4 J 

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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